Stormy Monday in Chennai: Why are our cities so flood-prone?
Cyclone Michaung has introduced India’s fourth largest metropolis, Chennai, to its knees. Its current efforts to organize for such excessive climate occasions have been discovered to be wanting. Mint explains why the town, which prides itself as a perfect funding vacation spot, must do much more.
How exhausting did Cyclone Michaung hit Chennai?
The slow-moving cyclone dumped an unprecedented 43 cm of rain in simply 35 hours resulting in huge flooding throughout the town. This triggered a serious energy outage which lasted greater than 36 hours and it disrupted telecom providers, together with the web. Hundreds of residents had been evacuated by boat whereas many extra struggled with out meals or ingesting water. Eight individuals have died. Chennai airport, one in all India’s busiest, was shut down attributable to water-logging on Monday and all incoming flights had been diverted to different close by airports. Scores of practice providers had been cancelled. Arterial highways had been lower off too.
What was the financial affect?
It’s anticipated to be extreme. Many industrial estates in and across the metropolis have been flooded and its affect will likely be recognized within the coming days. The auto and electronics cluster of Sriperumbudur and Oragadam—house to Hyundai, Daimler, Renault-Nissan, Foxconn and lots of different international majors—needed to shut operations on Monday and operated with skeletal workers on Tuesday. With airports shut, trains cancelled and roads flooded, financial exercise got here to a halt for 2 days. Chennai’s famed IT-hub continues to be underneath water. Specialists concern financial loss may run into a whole bunch of crores of rupees.
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. (Mint)
Have issues returned to regular?
Not but. Nearly 36 hours after the final drop of rain, elements of the town are nonetheless flooded and with out energy. Whereas the administration has been engaged on a conflict footing, such is the dimensions of injury that it’s taking frustratingly lengthy to revive normalcy. Airports resumed operations on Tuesday and practice providers too have begun however most industrial estates are but to renew work.
Why is Chennai so unprepared?
In comparison with earlier years, Chennai was theoretically higher ready because it had constructed a community of storm water drains (at a price of ₹4,000 crore). However as a result of poor high quality of development and the huge quantity of rain that Chennai acquired, it didn’t evacuate the water in lots of elements of the town. Rampant encroachment and choking of water our bodies, particularly within the southern outskirts, is one more reason for the current disaster. Merely put, the town is paying the worth of unplanned improvement.
What extra ought to Chennai do?
Not simply Chennai however all Indian cities which can be liable to excessive climate occasions must be higher ready. They embody Bengaluru, Nationwide Capital Area and Mumbai. All of those cities had confronted excessive climate occasions just lately. As per the World Meteorological Group, India misplaced $4.2 billion in 2022 to local weather disasters, pointing to the necessity for a catastrophe mitigation plan. If such a plan just isn’t put in place quickly, not simply Chennai however your complete nation’s declare of being a perfect funding vacation spot will likely be questioned.
