A year after flood, is Chennai disaster-ready?

The cyclone that hit Chennai recently shows the city is better prepared during last year, but a lot more needs to be done

Days after Vardah, described as a “very severe cyclonic storm”, hit Chennai, the city is still grappling with power cuts. The cyclone, which has left a trail of destruction behind it, disrupted mobile and telecommunication services in the city and its neighbouring districts. People struggled to buy essentials since ATMs and point of sale machines didn’t work. And, banks were closed for four days in a row.

For many, this was like a repeat of last year when Chennai was flooded after it experienced its worst rainfall in 100 years. Only this time, there was no flooding. The rainfall wasn’t as severe and having learnt a lesson from last year, the state government had cleaned up the waterways and reservoirs. Last year, the sudden outflow from these choked reservoirs at midnight was said to have been the reason for the high death toll and the damage that was caused. People say, in some ways, the state was better prepared this time round.

Soon after the cyclone struck on December 12, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, cabinet ministers, bureaucrats and officials from several departments swung into action to get the power restored and to speed up the rehabilitation work. A lot more, however, needs to be done. Chennai, which is witnessing frequent natural calamities, is far from disaster ready.

The northern coast of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry used to experience cyclonic storms and depressions often in the months of October and November. But recent experiences have shown that December too is vulnerable.

Progress over the year

Early on the morning of December 2, Nada, the cyclonic storm that had formed in southwest Bay of Bengal, had crossed the coastal area near Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. It was feared that it would badly affect the lives of people in the districts of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Chennai. But the storm weakened before it made landfall.

The relief was, however, short lived. Soon after, cyclone Vardah struck with full fury. The eye of the storm was right over the city of Chennai.

The government, which was still getting over the death of the state’s serving chief minister, J Jayalalithaa, had been gearing up for another rain-related disaster. The departments concerned were already on alert.

Yet, power supply was badly hit. Power Minister P Thangamani and his team have since been working round the clock in Chennai and its neighbouring districts. Around 34 large tower lines and 15,000 to 20,000 electric polls had fallen in the outskirts alone, said Thangamani. As compared to last year, when over 400 people were killed across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh and over 1.8 million were displaced, 20 lives were lost this year. But the impact on infrastructure has been heavy.

Last year, information was also hard to come by. This time, the authorities issued the first update on December 11, around 1.30 pm. Six teams of the National Disaster Response Force — three in Tiruvallur, two in Kancheepuram and one in Chennai — were deployed in advance. Four teams of the State Disaster Response Forces had also been deployed, two each in Tiruvallur and Chennai.

Last year, there was no early forecast of the disaster the state was staring at. After the devastating rainfall, the disaster management efforts too started late. Most parts of the city were water-logged, houses were washed away and hundreds of small and medium industries were affected with their machineries being spoilt by the flood.

Aon Benfield, the UK-based reinsurance broker, suggested that the Chennai floods were the eighth-most expensive natural disasters to have hit the world in 2015. India suffered a loss of $3 billion to its economy, the company said in its monthly report on global catastrophes.

The real question is: Is Chennai, which is a major hub for industrial activities on the global map now, disaster-proof? Experts say no.

People lifting uprooted poles following a storm in Chennai. The movement of traffic on several arterial roads were largely affected due to several trees were uprooted as Cyclone Vardah made landfall near Chennai coast.

The missing point

While experts agree that compared to last December, the state machinery swung into action immediately this time round, they also say that disaster management is not just about moving people to safe locations, giving them food and then sending them back home once things settle down.

“It is high time the government thought about drafting policies and putting in place an action plan to take on such natural calamities whose frequency has only increased,” says G Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal, an environmental organisation based in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is now witnessing almost one natural calamity every year. Chennai, which is the landing point for cyclones, has been hit by a cyclone every year for the last six years. 

According to a November 2011 report by a group of researchers from Kyoto University, the northern part of Tamil Nadu has experienced 28 cyclones in 50 years between 1959 and 2008.

Cyclone Vardah flattened a devastating number of trees. Environmentalists say most of the trees that fell were non-native to this soil. Many were choked by cement and tar as part of road expansion and beautification drives and were hence undernourished and weak. “The lesson from Vardah is that slow growing native trees are better for the city,” says V Selvam, executive director, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. Many native species have withstood cyclones.

Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation, coal and nuclear power plants and increase in vehicular population have further added to the problem, he says.

There were once sand dunes in northern Tamil Nadu, which had palm trees that could protect against cyclones by breaking their force, says Nityanand Jayaraman, writer and environmental activist. But now ports have replaced the sand dunes exposing cities directly to nature’s fury, he adds.

Experts are of the view that if calamities are to be handled better, local panchayat members need to be included in the natural disaster management process. Of the 39,000 lakes and tanks, one-fourth are maintained by them, they say. They also allege that at least one-third of these water bodies are illegally occupied.

Chennai was once home to more than 400 wetlands. Today, many of them have either been encroached upon or have been consumed by infrastructure projects, public and private institutions and even landfills, say experts.

K Dhanavel, former secretary to the Tamil Nadu government, also feels that during such times, the government should let the collectors, who are trained and know the place well, organise rescue, relief and rehabilitation work instead of having to accompany ministers or VIPs to calamity-hit areas. “This is my experience,” he adds.