CHENNAI: Days after the flood ravaged the city, people of north Chennai are still struggling to get back on their feet. Several small-scale business owners said their machines have been badly damaged, and they are finding it difficult to repair their equipment owing to the demand for electricians and trouble in bringing spare parts from outside Tamil Nadu. Most of these small-scale businesses are unorganised and also lack insurance cover.
V Devaraj, a steel furniture maker from Tiruvottiyur, said, “Our unit is located in Sathyamoorthy Nagar. This is an area that gets flooded every monsoon, and we usually take precautionary measures like moving the machines to a safe place. In the last three years, we didn’t witness much stagnation and water would drain a few hours after the rains stopped. By the time we realised the impending floods on the morning of December 4, it was too late to safeguard anything.”
Losses incurred by these businesses range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh with some persons even losing their mini trucks during the flood. “Apart from direct financial loss, we are facing additional setbacks like a month’s worth of labour costs as even the items that remained after the floods required refurbishment,” Devaraj said.
Tirumurugan, a power coating company owner from Korukkupet, said, “Business owners get insurance when it is a prerequisite for businesses obtaining loans. Many family-run businesses or those with minimal labour force don’t have insurance cover. We are also sceptical about getting any help from the government as we were left to fend for ourselves in the aftermath of Cyclone Vardah. Our losses were around Rs 10 lakh during that time. Though government officials surveyed our company, they didn’t even help to arrange for loans and we slowly rebuilt our business from the scratch.
Now, we have been hit by another calamity.” Apart from the loss of machinery and raw materials, the companies are also struggling to resume operations. A spring manufacturing company owner from Tiruvottiyur said, “Electricians are busy and charge a hefty amount citing heavy workload. I had to detach a cable in my automatic spring manufacturing machine to move it to a safe place. While a replacement cable costs only Rs 1,200, it is not available in Chennai and Bengaluru. We had to order it from Rajkot.”
Several business owners have urged the government to help them get loans so that they can restore their operations to their pre-flood capacity. They also said issuing timely warnings on the probably gravity of floods might help them safeguard their valuable machinery in future.