I had a magical childhood. In the late 50s, I lived on Nathan’s Street on Harrington Road, with just a chain-link fence separating this colony of eight bungalows from the Madras Christian School. Magical, because the colony was filled with kids and we measured the passing of time in the games we played; we had the kite season, the tops season, the marbles season, the cricket season, the hockey season, and of course the rainy season when we frolicked in the muddy waters of Swaminathan Bungalow to catch as many tadpoles as we could.
My most vivid memory of the rains in Madras was being taken to Spurtank Road to watch the Cooum River in full spate. In those days, it seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime event and we were awed by the strength of the water in the river where we would catch tiny fishes every so often.
Today, a combination of unregulated and rapid urbanisation and climate change has resulted in more frequent extreme weather events. Now the city of Chennai fluctuates between floods and drought. In 2015, we had our worst floods ever, and in 2019, our worst drought on record, when we almost hit ground zero and drew frequent comparisons to Cape Town.
Clearly, we are not managing our water well. The rainfall we receive from the southwest and northeast monsoons is more than enough to meet the city’s annual needs—if only we would harvest it rather than flush it down storm water drains to the Bay of Bengal.
As the northeast monsoon looms over the city, floods, like a crying baby, seem to get all the attention. However, the fact is, we need the rains. We are a water-starved city, rapidly depleting our groundwater aquifers. Instead of raising the alarm every time it rains and scaring every Ram, Meenakshi, and Harini into believing that storm water drains are needed in every corner of the city to carry rainwater away quickly, we should recognise that Chennai is a drought-prone, monsoon-dependent city. We need measures that help slow and retain this precious rainwater to recharge our dwindling aquifers. Solutions for drought will also help mitigate floods. The opposite is not necessarily true.
Focusing on drought management places responsibility on every citizen. Through rainwater harvesting, urban farming on rooftops, tree planting, reducing water consumption at home and work, and recycling water, we can all contribute. When the focus is solely on floods, it becomes the government’s responsibility, with the only perceived solution being storm water drains that flush precious rainwater into the Bay of Bengal.
I’m not for a moment suggesting that floods aren’t an issue in Chennai—they are. If we continue to encroach on dry lake beds, wetlands, or agricultural lands through unregulated urbanisation, we’ll inevitably face increasing floods.
I am asking that we look at floods through the lens of drought, as this can yield different and more effective solutions. I am asking that we, as citizens, value water more and treat our water sources (both surface and groundwater) as precious assets to protect and preserve, not as dumping grounds for solid waste and sewage. I am asking that we segregate our waste.
I am asking that we install water meters to monitor our water usage and learn to use it more judiciously. I am asking that we convert concrete spaces into green spaces. I am asking that we follow land-use guidelines and halt indiscriminate construction. And I am asking that we act as responsible citizens, take ownership of our actions, and collaborate with authorities to make Chennai a cleaner, greener and more water-resilient city.
In August, my daughter Divya and I rowed on the Thames river from Oxford to Weybridge—a distance of 162 km over 6 days... a journey of a lifetime. All along the way, we saw families interacting with the river. They were fishing, swimming, rowing, canoeing, sailing, or just picnicking along the banks.
I hope that someday in the not-too-distant future, we can do the same in the Adyar, Cooum, or Buckingham Canal—waterways restored as sources of life and joy, not symbols of crisis each monsoon. When we learn to care about managing our water and waterways better, we won’t just protect against floods; we’ll create places of beauty and connection for future generations.
(The author is chief resilience officer at the Chennai Resilience Centre)