Mismanaging the monsoon

The recurring floods in Chennai serve as a wake-up call to the government to rethink urban planning

The DMK government renamed Madras as Chennai in 1996. M.K. Stalin, who was Mayor then, rolled out a slew of schemes under his pet project, Singara Chennai (Beautiful Chennai). In 2000, the same government set up Tidel Park, an information technology park, which ushered in unprecedented as well as unregulated growth. Chennai has experienced two major floods since then: first in 2005 and then in 2015. In the 25 years since 1996, the AIADMK has ruled for 15 years, including at the time of the floods. Now that large parts of Chennai are inundated once again, there is a stand-off between the DMK and AIADMK. Chief Minister Stalin has accused the previous AIADMK government of pilfering money from the Smart City project, while the Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, has demanded to know what Ma. Subramanian, now Health Minister and previously Mayor, did during his earlier tenure. Mr. Palaniswami has also claimed that stagnation of water has decreased thanks to his government’s efforts.

The truth is that the responsibility for the sorry state of affairs lies with both DMK and AIADMK governments. It naturally rests to a large extent with the AIADMK government considering the time it spent in power. But the issue is being seen as one of political vendetta/upmanship.

While relentless industrial development, including the expansion of ports and thermal power plants, could be one of the main reasons for the floods in the northern parts of Chennai, as activists say, it is the aspirational housing projects of the middle class in the southern parts that have destroyed water bodies and blocked channels. As a consequence, there is less space for the water to naturally flow into the sea.