A rainy day in Chennai !!

Men have always tried to resist Nature's Fury. Especially with the advancement of Science, humans adapt well with Nature. We cannot stop an earthquake from occurring, but can prevent high rise buildings in earthquake prone areas to minimize damage. We cannot anticipate a Volcanic eruption. All we can do is to stay away from it. The same applies for rain. Dams were built to prevent flooding of cities in case of heavy rain. It not only saves the city from floods but also acts as a storage during water scarcity. With Science and Technology at its pinnacle, it's not that we don't know how to tackle a crisis, it's just that we don't care to do it !!

ROADS GROW IN HEIGHT FASTER THAN OUR SALARY

Chennai & many other northern districts of TN like cuddalore & kanchipuram were blessed with more than 40 cms of rainfall in a span of 10 days.The City couldn't absorb all these waters and finally water didn't have a choice but to enter into houses. Of course it did the right thing as we all know water always flows from high to low. Here high is the roads and low is our home.

I feel proper relaying of roads and preserving water bodies could have prevented this situation. Unfortunately both didn't happen. Every road contractor clearly knows that he has to remove the old bitumen and the debris before relaying roads. but the reality is different. Every time a road is being relayed, height of roads increase 1/2 to 1 feet. In a span of 10 years, your roads would have grown 2-3 feet and your home slowing sinking below these roads. Hope many of us would have seen some old houses where there would be two steps below the road level, to take you to their doorstep. Maybe in a span of 10 years, their ground floor would become their basement and their first floor would be their ground floor. There is no point in blaming just the government. It's the people, you and me are equally responsible for this. 

Most of the educated middle class has this attitude, Why should I ask? If a street has 100 houses and when the contractor comes to relay the road, what does it cost to stop the contractor who is trying to relay the road without removing the old bitumen?  do you think it wouldn't have an effect if atleast 1 person from each house unites and question the authority? You don't have to be in politics to create change. A mere habit of questioning is sufficient to make most things correct. But the general attitude of  an educated middle class is, WHY ME? 

Fortunately, the roads where I stay is not water logged in spite of such heavy rain. But I know if not today, it might happen to me in the next flood. It's better we wake up now and start cultivating the habit of questioning. All we do is end up raising our basement to more than 6 feet from ground while building new houses anticipating that the roads will raise whenever it's being relayed. don't you think this increases your construction cost? What will happen to the already constructed houses? 

In foreign countries, there is a accurate check to keep the road level the same whenever roads are relayed. It's pretty clear that our authorities won't follow it. Yet, I don't think its a excuse, we can make them do it by questioning. Fearing to question authorities is always there. Ok, if that's the case, you don't have to do it alone. I am sure there would be quite a few like minded people. We can do it together.

I have heard the saying "A govt in a democratic country is only as good as its people". I was initially hesitant to believe it, but now I see some truth in it. The moment a manager stops questioning or monitorng his employee, I am sure most of the employee's productivity drops. Employees tend to 

become complacent. When there is no one to question, the employee becomes lethargic. Politicians and authorities are the employees and we the people are the managers. No one is going to chop our head for questioning, to make them do their job. All we do is being selfish and believe that we have escaped from the problem. Not many realize that it's a temporary relief and the problem is hanging over your head as a knife ready to fall anytime.

LAKEVIEW APARTMENTS ???

Apart from this road level increase, another major factor for water logging is encroachment of lakes. I do remember some examples of encroaching lakes and building apartments and institutions in it. Porur lake initially had an area of 700 Acre and now it has shrunk to 350 acres. Most of the then porur lake is now Porur Ramachandra Hospital and its nearby buildings. The remaining 350 acres was also tried to be converted into flats. Thanks to National Green tribunal for stepping in and preventing the lake from further trouble.

Everyday when I go to my Office in Shollinganallur I cross the Marsh land opposite to HCL (ELCOT). It's such a beautiful sight to watch birds in this marsh land. Unfortunately these birds had to find an alternative place within 10 years or so as these marsh lands are slowly being swallowed by real estate owners and being converted into high rise apartments. I believe even the ELCOT is now sitting over the marsh land which was once a favorite place for birds. The govt was so happy in giving permissions for all these Construction works not foreseeing the impacts of it. 

I seriously couldn't understand how people could buy flats constructed near these marsh lands. What are we going to do with the CMDA and PWD department authorities who gave approvals to build apartments in these protected areas? It is clear that its a low lying area and water logging happens even for a moderate rain. Maybe people fell for low cost and hence they had to pay their price for it, not in rupees but by floating across waters, every time they cross their doorstep. It's evident that Real Estate is booming in Chennai and there is huge demand for homes.This demand need not require lakes and ponds to be encroached. One can very well build High raise buildings with proper approval and safety precautions and spare these lakes and ponds which prevents the city from flooding and also as a source of water during drought. people should stop buying flats in low lying areas and let those flats go unsold. Only then such things wouldn't happen again.

SAY NO TO FREEBIES

Gone are the days of Karmavirar Kamaraj who built many Dams in Tamil Nadu. He was a man of foresight and dams built under his regime is still serving people of Tamil Nadu. Our govt spends more than 4000 crore rupees for giving freebies. A common man with reasonable presence of mind would understand how bad it is and can  channelize this fund to more useful activities.

Lets assume a poor family gets a fan, a mixer grinder and a laptop from the govt. They are sure to be a happy family after receiving these. But looking at things happening in the long term, this is a disaster. Let us see how. Most of the water from rivers in TN after heavy rain cant be stored beyond a certain limit and hence diverted to sea which of course is of little use to people. I remember a project worth 600 crore was initially planned to store excess water. Unfortunately the project has to be stopped due to insufficient funds. Don't you think the 4000 crore money for giving freebies could be used up for this? A laptop dies out in 5 years, but a dam can live more than 100 years. The poor man's family could have bought a laptop by saving money for a year or two. But can this poor man build a Dam? can this poor man lay proper roads? can this poor man build sophisticated Govt schools and colleges? Definitely No. There are a certain things which can be done only by the govt. This poor man's family can surely improve his social and economic status if he had got better roads, better govt schools, better hospitals, a long lasting Dam than a laptop and a fan. This poor man's Son can buy 10 laptops if the standard of education is improved in Govt schools with the money that was spent in giving fee laptop to people.

Our politicians always target vote banks and as a responsible citizen, we should start boycotting freebies and money for vote. It should first begin from a small group and once it's being practiced by most people, the politicians would soon realize that they can't buy votes with freebies and vote for money. We can force them to change their strategies and make them do good. But it won't happen unless everyone of us unite and fight !!

It was also sad to see a few posts in Facebook with status, "happy to have escaped Chennai rains" from some of my friends who have their hometown in other parts of Tamil Nadu. I hope they understand that if it's Chennai this time, it could be their hometown the next time. The above mentioned issues are not just in Chennai, but in the entire nation. 

This blog is a reflection of my disappointment over not just the government but also on our negligence. I hope we learn our lessons at least now and prevent such incidents from happening in future. We don't have to do it for free, it's for our better tomorrow !!

Be the change you want to see in this world