Chennai rains wreaked havoc on the capital city of Tamil Nadu last year. Heavy rain continued for about a month leading to severe flooding over the state capital.
During that time, Chennai has seen it all, clogged roads, food shortage, power woes, traffic disruption and several other problems that even Chennaiites cannot explain in words.
While several controversies have been doing rounds as far as Chennai floods are concerned, after a thorough analysis, even the Union Ministry feels that overflow of dam water at the wrong time and inadequate drainage system may have triggered the Chennai flood massacre.
Another point to be noted is that weather warning for Chennai rains was given at least 48 hours before the occurrence of the disaster. As per a study by scientists, if the disaster response of Tamil Nadu were as quick as in Gujarat as well as Odisha, the disaster could have been entirely avoided.
A part of the Climate Report 2015 has also been given to the Chennai floods. The report provides a detail of the disasters as well as significant climate changes occurred in the country in the year 2015. The report also mentions the floods in Kashmir, drought in Maharashtra. Also explained in the report is why 2015 was the warmest in the world and the third warmest in India.
Had the opening of the overflowing water body avoided and if the drainage systems were adequate, the state could have been saved from a big disaster. During the floods, when people walked on the roads, they were hit by a rapid influx of water, which does not happen with rain water alone.
According to the Centre’s analysis, while Kashmir floods couldn’t be avoided due to narrow outlets and slow movement of water from the valley, Chennai flood assessment could have easily been done by the administration on the local levels, and people could have been evacuated beforehand.
For cities prone to disasters like floods, effective disaster response teams and adequate drainage systems is a must. Proper urban planning also needs to be done to avoid another disaster similar to that of the Chennai rains.
Image Credit: indiatoday.in
