I remember, at the peak of the 2015 floods, we were trying to rescue a man who was entirely drenched, bereft of any sense of what was happening save meekly allowing us to lift him on to a boat. Halfway through rowing down, what used to be his street in T Nagar, he suddenly became animated and gesticulated wildly for us to turn the boat around.
Grudgingly, standing in a foot and a half of water, I helped push the boat around. We rowed back to his ground-floor apartment which lay in puddles of water, many things washed away. He went inside and brought a single bottle of whiskey and a photograph of his late wife. I will never forget this moment.
The aftermath of 2015 witnessed busy reparations, the sheer multitudes left broken. Rehabilitation meant rebuilding schools, building new houses and tenements, and a huge bustle of activity that kept us busy well into the following year. A lot of arguments were made on poor civic planning, the greed of realtors building over marshlands and silted-over lakes, and the responses from local bodies (which I actually thought were excellent). Many debates and convened roundtables were conducted to understand what could be done better so that we never see this again.
Come cyclone Vardah in 2016, we faced this again, and 2023 saw the situation repeat itself. We are definitely in the midst of a massive change in weather patterns, with climatic conditions shifting, perhaps, permanently. We now know that December spells heavy rains in Chennai.
We know that no less than a hundred different stakeholders — civic, administrative, essential services, hospitals, delivery agents, real estate developers, property managers, and decision-makers in institutions — all have to come together to find ways to curb irresponsible developments, restore our lakes, build catchment tanks, penalise those who offend civic space, and learn to conserve. Time and again, we go back to the belief that it is someone else’s problem.
We receive smaller cyclones, and no doubt, they will be followed by larger ones like those in previous years.
While storm water drains and reinforcements have improved, accompanied by more tech-enabled and alert rescue and support services, we are on the other hand dealing with inveterate metro subway constructions and traffic overflows. Realtors are refusing to stop unwarranted constructions, and loopholes continue to be found in enforcement.
We now know that we need to change and we also know that we are not changing enough. Until we respect the environment with absolute and unfettered dedication, I would suggest you hold on to what is dearest to you, be it a photograph or a preferred beverage.
(The writer is a well-known musician, educator, and entrepreneur. He is a professor at Krea University and has founded Rhapsody and KRUU, missions that work with lakhs of children)