Torrential rains take their toll in Tamil Nadu

Diana Varachi –

Another year has passed and the fireworks have been watched.

The Guardian called 2015 the ‘Year of Living Dangerously’ with many socio-political events marking the headlines and appearing on different newsfeeds.

Migration of people displaced from their war-torn home countries, artificially created islands in the South China Sea for greater regional power and the long overdue, long-term Paris Climate Talks, were few, among many, stories repeated in the news.

Resilient City

Personally however, my attention was caught by the resilience of Chennai, when devastating floods occurred in the last months of the year.

The partly natural, partly man-made disaster vividly showcased how a State (Tamil Nadu) with the highest concentration of engineers in India, failed miserably in urban planning.

Mainstream media, albeit much too late, broadcast a plethora of pictures of the city of five million people and its international airport inundated under heavy rains.

Social Media help

For the first time, I was convinced of the usefulness of social media in a crisis situation – as a tool to disseminate information between rescue volunteers and those stranded.

Tweets were timely, powerful and swam effortlessly across many obstacles.

The persistent rains highlighted the failure of the government on the one hand and the consequences of expanding a city beyond its capacity on the other.

Yet the tireless communal coordination and rehabilitation efforts by volunteers of all ages was nothing short of astounding.

The strength of linked networks and rapid information dissemination proved significant and lessons on every aspect of social life were learned. In many ways, I could relate the unfolding of the Chennai floods trajectory to events around the world; imaginably also to parts of our daily lives.

I wish you all much cheerfulness in the New Year. Following is a snippet found via Google (who else?) and hope that each day is filled with many hours of happiness and fulfilling purpose.

Diana Varachi is the daughter of Dr Jebamalai Vinanchiarachi, who was in Auckland in November as a guest of Indian Newslink to attend the Sixth Annual Mother Teresa Interfaith Meeting (November 21) and the Eighth Annual Indian Newslink Indian Business Awards (November 23). He is a formal Principal Advisor to the Director General of UNIDO based in Vienna, Austria. He is currently Chairman of Experience Foundation. Diana Varachi lives in Sydney, Australia

Editor’s Note: While the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa has been praised for taking ‘quick action’ to offer relief to the people affected by the heavy rains, her adversaries are currently lying low.

They know that the time now is to lend a helping hand in rescue efforts but they will certainly make the inadequacy of the systems to respond to natural disasters a major issue in the State Assembly elections due in the next few months.

Death and disaster

Media reports and emails from friends in Tamil Nadu indicated that among the worst affected areas were Chennai and its suburbs and the neighbouring districts of Kanchipuram, Thiruvallur and Cuddalore, where about 180 people died and thousands of others were hurt and lost their properties. The after-effect risks of disease and other problems continue to daunt the authorities.

Relief Operations

In an interview published in the Economic Times, Om Prakash Singh, Director General, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) described it as ‘the largest flood rescue operation’ undertaken by the organisation.

Rescue Operations

“50 teams were pressed into service, covering seven districts and the State capital Chennai. Our rescue operations occurred in two phases, the first of which was from November 9 to 19, 2015. During this phase, the scope of flooding and extent of damage were relatively less. Fifteen teams were requisitioned in Chennai and adjoining districts of Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur.

“The second phase, from December 1 to December 15, 2015, also accounted for 50 teams. The first to respond was the Battalion from Arakonam with 11 teams and five teams from Guntur. Based on the reports received, I deemed that the extent of damage was of very serious nature and would require a large presence to make a positive impact on the ground. Acting on this assumption, I airlifted additional 14 teams to assist in rescue operations, taking the total to 30 teams on the ground on 2-12-2015. On 4th December an additional 20 teams were brought in. The total presence of NDRF was 1715 persons with 194 boats; 1571 life jackets, 1071 life buoys and other essential lifesaving equipment, medicines,” he said.

Although normal weather conditions have been reported in all the affected areas, rebuilding operations will take long. According an official estimate, the total estimated financial loss was US$ 226.64 million.

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