Chennai, originally a cluster of few villages, has a draining system that is more than a century old with three rivers, Cooum, Adyar and Kosasthalaiyar dissecting it. Like the old Chengalpattu district, Chennai too had its own lakes, tanks and ponds. The presence of lake view and lake bund roads today are reminders of the disappeared waterbodies. Portions of Mambalam and Nungambakkam today virtually stand on the encroached lake.
The sudden opening of the flood gates of Chembarambakkam lake to let out surplus water not only drowned major parts of South Chennai, but also forced the planners to think of solutions to avoid flooding.
The Thiruppugazh committee appointed by the new government has reportedly submitted a voluminous report, after investigating the issue, which has unfortunately not yet been made public. It was reported that the document has dealt with the issue of waterlogging and water flow and analysed similar problems across the world. It is learnt that it had suggested the role of the people in understanding monsoons, and getting them prepared to face the situation rather than blaming the government for its failure to prevent such disasters. It is high time that people are educated for the future defence of the city during monsoon floods.
The British conceived the Buckingham Canal as an inward water channel, which till the mid-50s was used by boats to bring in firewood, vegetables, and grains to the city from Andhra Pradesh.
Despite these waterbodies, the original drainage system in the old city was well managed and water logging was mostly due to excessive rains. The increased construction of housing blocks slowly made the old drainage system unworkable. Urban migration led to slum settlements along the river banks and the Buckingham Canal.
In the early 70s, a study conducted by Chaturvedi Badrinath, an astute IAS officer and the collector of then Madras found that 41.2% of Chennai’s population lived in slums and on pavements. The TN Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) also attempted to replace the slums with multi-storied apartments in the same place where they originally lived. When the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) was conceived and executed along the Buckingham Canal, some of its railway stations were virtually planted on the canal itself, blocking any water passage.
A PIL regarding this was promptly dismissed by the Madras HC stating that it was a development plan. Little did the court consider that there was no legal right to construct any building over water courses, that too an established water canal. The so-called beautification of the rivers by deepening and desilting the waterbodies had little effect except that crores of rupees have been drained into them.
Without infrastructure and development schemes, the government has allowed construction of several concrete blocks for a huge population which lives without basic amenities. It is these suburban belts which suffer every year due to flooding in the monsoon. Sometimes the places are so marooned they need to be retrieved by boats.
The efforts taken by the government and the GCC in laying additional water drainage system had its own result. However, suburban Chennai’s drainage problems require a long-term solution along with a planned expansion. This requires funds which the state can hardly afford. The central government must realise that its role in this is more important, not merely as a provider of funds, but as a defender of this country, not just of its borders but also internally against natural disasters.
(The author is a retired judge of Madras High Court)