It never rains but it pours — that adage holds true in a way for rain-deficient Chennai that been devastated by the highest spell of November rainfall in a decade. November is a wet month in Chennai, but even so it has received its entire quota of 40 cm of rain for this month in a matter of a few days, being inundated by 25 cm of rain on November 15 alone. Chennai has lost over 50 lives in a week of gloomy skies and relentless patter. Now, new dangers loom for which the city administration must prepare itself — that of diseases such as cholera, leptospirosis, dengue, diarrhoea and typhoid assuming serious proportions. The State government has set aside ₹500 crore for flood relief and the Chennai corporation, headed by a dynamic and competent commissioner, has displayed a sense of real urgency — unlike the Mumbai municipal corporation, whose officials vanished on leave after the 26/7 deluge. But there can be no denying that while the rain has been uncommonly heavy, reckless urban expansion over the years has played a role in worsening the impact. As a result, although we have the technology to anticipate extreme weather events (it is known that El Nino years could lead to heavy winter rain in south India), we are unable to contain the high levels of damage. When natural sinks are reduced to a tenth of their size and 19 major lakes shrink to less than half, a price has to be paid. Storm water drains are hopelessly clogged, leaving little room for the water to flow, except into people’s homes. Of course, it wasn’t Chennai alone that suffered; other, and much smaller, cities underwent excessive pain for similar reasons.
Chennai has been aptly described as a low-lying ‘pancake’ that is not suited to draining out excess water. This underscores the need to preserve natural drainage systems such as the marshes, water bodies and the two rivers — the Cooum (flowing through the centre of Chennai) and Adyar (in the southern side) rivers — that inhabit the region. Governments and schemes such as JNNURM take too technocratic a view of urban development. As a result, natural excesses have an exaggerated impact.
A rapidly urbanising India must change course — and this should have sunk in after Mumbai 26/7. Whether it is Kolkata (where wetlands have been converted into townships) or Bengaluru (where lakes have been consumed by buildings), it is clear that both policies and attitudes need to change. Zoning and construction laws must be implemented, or altered if required. The use of plastic and the excessive cementing around buildings should be discouraged. Effluent treatment plants need to be upgraded and new ones set up. Europe cleaned up its dirty rivers over a century ago. If Chennai and other cities are to become world class destinations for investors, their ecosystem, literally speaking, has got to change.