Days after several parts of Chennai were inundated, the city is slowly returning to normalcy. This is the second time in six years that Tamil Nadu’s capital is grappling with the impact of heavy rain. A blame game has begun between the ruling DMK and the Opposition AIADMK over who is responsible for the hardship the people faced. In an interview, Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru talks about the causes of waterlogging, actions that were taken and remedial measures to prevent flooding in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu. Excerpts:
Many parts of Chennai are still facing inundation. What caused this?
Normalcy has been restored in all places, except a few. Restoration work is progressing on a war footing. We have identified problematic spots along Metrowater lines that had aggravated the impact of the floods. Manpower and machines have been deployed at 400 spots to drain the water. Some areas, including Pulianthope, have been posing real challenges to us, as continuous efforts failed to yield the expected results, troubling residents. We have deputed 1,000 sanitation workers from other municipalities, in addition to the staff of the [Greater] Chennai Corporation, to carry out the restoration work. Power has been given to zonal officers to involve as many workers as possible from various sources.
It [the work] has taught everyone a lesson. What we have come to know from the 10-day intensive fieldwork in the affected areas of Chennai is that the city will not face the level of hardship that it is facing now if the drainage system of Metrowater is good.
We have found that the pipelines in north Chennai need repairs at many places. The drainage system is in a bad state. Several manholes are broken. In some areas, sewage is mixing with drinking water. The permanent solution lies in replacing the pipelines of Metrowater in north Chennai.
There have been criticisms that the State Government failed to take flood prevention measures before the start of the monsoon. How do you respond to them?
There is no truth in it. As a precaution, we began a major drive across the State, well before the north-east monsoon set in, to clear the silt accumulated in drainage canals and drainage systems. We have waterways and canals in Chennai and its suburbs to a length of about 2,700 km. We cleared bushes and weeds for about 771 km. We could not do it completely owing to a paucity of time. The situation would have been better if we had sufficient time to complete the task.
We have identified 166 points vulnerable to inundation in north Chennai, Tambaram, Pallavaram and south Chennai. The expert committee on flood prevention in Chennai, led by V. Thiruppugazh, will begin its study soon. The government will implement its recommendations by drawing funds from various resources. It might take at least two years to complete the project. However, we will see that flooding in Chennai does not recur, as Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is committed to addressing the issue permanently.
The AIADMK is blaming the DMK for the current crisis...
Chennai faced unprecedented floods in 2015. The erstwhile AIADMK Government not just failed in preventing the crisis then but also in taking corrective steps thereafter. They [AIADMK leaders] spoke about schemes costing at ₹800 crore-₹900 crore to prevent flooding. But we could see nothing in effect. They just concentrated on building multi-level car parking and parks under the Smart Cities Mission. We have prevented human losses and restored normalcy quickly. Can they list schemes that were implemented to prevent floods in Chennai? They did nothing except to hoodwink people. They pass the buck, despite having been in power for 10 years.
In the six months after we took over, the DMK Government has devoted entire energy and resources for three months to bringing the COVID-19 infections under control. Next, we had to switch our attention for a month to the Assembly proceedings. In the next two months, we focused on facing the monsoon. Time was so short. In spite of this, we took up a State-wide drive to clear silt along drainage canals, as much as possible.
Do you not think that encroachments on waterbodies are one of the reasons for the floods?
Yes. More than 3,000-4,000 families reside in Kolathur alone illegally. The existence of the Velachery lake itself poses an issue. It is not easy to shift all of them [the residents] to alternative places at a go. It is a major task. We need to take into account litigation, too. However, we will shift the roadside dwellers to the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board tenements.
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