Though the meteorological department had predicted heavy rains in Chennai and across northern Tamil Nadu, few could have prepared for the scale and intensity of the downpour that has submerged almost the entire capital city and claimed more than 250 lives all over the State. Chennai is facing its worst rains in a century and, while the Government and the public at large have pooled in all their resources for relief and rescue operations, the situation is still overwhelming. The resilience of the victims, marooned for several days now, has been heart-warming, as has been the support that has poured in from all over the country and even Indians abroad. Governments, both at the Centre and in the State, have put up a relatively efficient response, and the public appreciates that. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew out from Delhi to survey the flood-affected areas and, before him, on Thursday, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa also did an aerial survey. The weatherman has indicated that the worst may be over for now, but there will still be heavy rains over the next few days.
This will make conducting relief and rescue operations, which is the immediate challenge at hand, continually difficult. A mammoth effort is currently underway to assist as many affected persons as possible, but with concrete roads having turned into waterways, power transmission becoming intermittent at best, and most communication lines having snapped, reaching out to the victims, many of whom are effectively cut off from civilisation, has been a Herculean task. The National Disaster Response Force has deployed some 100 boats and about 30 teams in Chennai and adjoining areas. More than 1,200 rescue operators are on the ground, so to say, while the Coast Guard has also readied rubberised motor boats from its side. On Thursday, Indian Air Force sorties began dropping food packets and conducting surveys. It is also using the naval base outside Chennai to ferry civilian passengers to Delhi. The Navy, on its part, has deployed INS Airavat, which also reached the city on Thursday carrying diving teams, boats and tonnes of medicines. Additionally, fleet Tanker INS Shakti has been bringing in relief materials and essential supplies. Two columns of the Army's Garrison Infantry Battalion have also been pressed into service in Tambaram and Oorapakkam after the Government of Tamil Nadu sought military assistance. In Delhi, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has already released Rs 509 crore for Tamil Nadu; Mr Modi announced another Rs 1,000 crore on Thursday.
Apart from Government outfits, private agencies and the public in general have also organised large-scale relief efforts. like it was first seen during the floods in Kashmir last year, Internet-based businesses, especially those built on extensive online social networks, have marshalled their resources to assist with rescue and relief operations. For example, the mega transport app Ola launched its OlaBoat services, the online food giant Zomato has introduced special meals for Chennai, while the medical service platform Practo is listing doctors and other healthcare providers who are available for assistance. Mobile service providers Airtel and Vodafone are offering free recharges while the state-owned BSNl is not billing any usage in Chennai for one week. A Google document, called #ChennaiRains (Available Shelter, Rescues Needed, Helpline Numbers, Other Resources)' is being used to crowdsource crucial information while another online platform is being used to collate information on those who have opened their homes for the flood victims. Several non-Government organisations have also jumped into the fray, setting up open kitchens and collecting and distributing relief materials like food items, medicines, clothes and blankets. Yet, in spite of all these efforts, there are growing concerns over the outbreak of disease and epidemic, for instance, especially if the situation continues to worsen with more torrential downpours in the coming days.
Once the rains subside and the water drains out, the focus will move towards rebuilding and reconstruction. The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India has already estimated that the State has suffered an estimated Rs 15,000 crore in losses due to the rains, which is almost double the State Government's earlier estimate of Rs 8,481 crore. The Government will, of course, be announcing large sums of money to get the city back on its feet, but as the aftermath in Kashmir stands proof, once the crisis loses the spotlight, reconstruction efforts are hampered by administrative inefficiency. Another issue that this calamity must draw attention to in the long term is that of rapacious urbanisation and callous town-planning. let there be no doubt that one of the big reasons why the rains have had such a devastating impact, especially on Chennai, is because, over the years the city has steadily eroded all its natural defence mechanisms against such ‘attacks'.
In its quest for so-called development, Chennai, a flat, low-lying coastal city that faces the naturally turbulent Bay of Bengal, has devoured its many small waterbodies and marched over the Adyar River, the Buckingham Canal and the Cooum River, which were its traditional rainwater drains. For example, the city’s new airport terminal is located on the floodplains of the Adyar while its Mass Rapid Transit System straddles the Buckingham Canal. Engineering colleges, special economic zones and gated residential colonies have come up on catchment areas and disrupted the natural drainage route. The Pallikaranai marshland, which is supposed to drain water from a 250-square-kilometre catchment, has been encroached upon with devastating effect, and now reduced to 1/10th of its size. It is worth noting here that while this week's rainfall has been out-of-ordinary, it is not completely out of character. Chennai has a history of heavy rains every 10 years or so — one only needs to go back to the weather data from 2005, 1998/1996, 1985, 1976, 1969 and so on. Of course, poor urban planning with almost no regard for natural geographies is not Chennai's problem alone — all Indian Metros face this issue (think of how Mumbai floods every monsoon or easily a shower or two can bring Delhi to a standstill). The question is: Will they learn from each other or even their own experiencesIJ
Finally, in a national disaster like this, it is best if the leadership keeps politics out of the picture and puts up a united front. On Wednesday, Members of Parliament came together to express concern over the massive floods in Tamil Nadu and offer support to the rescue and relief efforts. However, while some of the petty comments made by MPs in Parliament may have gone unnoticed by the public, that does not make them any less offensive.