The rains have stopped but the city of Chennai continues to reel under the havoc wreaked by heavy rainfall brought by Cyclone Michaung. Several parts of north and south Chennai remain inundated with waist-high water as on Wednesday, December 6, with people having to carry their children, pets and their belongings over their shoulders.
Neighbourhoods such as Velachery, Madipakkam, Adyar, Thiruvanmiyur and Palikaranai remained flooded on December 6, Wednesday as well.
The situation was similar in places in north Chennai like Vyasarpadi, Old Washermanpet and Perambur, where the residents were left stranded without food, water or electricity for three days.
Why so long to clear waterlogging?
Chennai and its residents are not new to flooding caused due to heavy rains nor the chaos from water not getting drained quickly. For years, the people of the city have been complaining of clogged storm water drains with faulty design as the reason behind the menace of waterlogging.
While storm water drains do play a role in combating water logging on roads, experts say there is only so much it can do when it rains heavily like it did in Chennai recently.
There are other man-made factors which did have an impact on slowing the draining process, the main one being large scale encroachments of water bodies across the city.
Speaking to TNM, Professor M Karmegam, a former director with the Centre for Water Resources, Anna University, Chennai, said most water bodies in and around Chennai, where rainwater flows into have been encroached by industries and housing colonies. Many of them have also been turned into dumping yards, making it difficult for excess water to be accomodated.
“I’m of the opinion that Chennai ideally shouldn’t have had any floods because rainwater from the various water bodies in the city was supposed to automatically flow to the sea without much problem. But now because the waterways are encroached, water is not able to flow out quickly,” says Professor Karmegam. He also went on to address the issue of diminishing irrigation tanks in the city, which used to store huge amounts of water for the purpose of agriculture. These tanks and agricultural lands, which used to absorb rainwater, he says, have now been converted into urban areas.
This was further reiterated by Professor S Janakarajan of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS). He cites the example of SIDCO Nagar in Chennai’s Villivakkam, which was severely inundated in the recent floods and continues to experience water logging. “This area used to be an irrigation tank, which could withstand heavy rainfall without any flooding or waterlogging. Now, it’s been encroached upon and has an industrial estate and housing boards built over it. Where will the water go? This is also the same reason why Velachery is also submerged and continues to be inundated now,” says Janakarajan.
According to a report, almost 70% of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) in 1973, was agricultural land. However, in 2006, before the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority came up with the Second Master plan for the city, the total agricultural land in the city had shrunk to just 12% as most of these areas were converted into industrial estates, residential and commercial spaces.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena, on December 6, had said that waterlogging in most parts of Chennai, especially the southern region would be cleared in a couple of days. He said that the delay in draining off water in south Chennai is because of huge amounts of garbage being dumped in Okkiyam Maduvu water channel, as it was the main canal that drains off water from all southern areas like Pallikaranai and Madipakkam, into the Buckingham canal, from where it flows into the sea.