Chennai Floods

2005 - It was the first time since I felt floods in Chennai. I came to Chennai in 1994. Never had seen such rains and flood ever. There had never been floods to such an extent that schools and colleges were declared holidays. Everything functioned normally. I was in Chromepet/Chennai for over 10 years and had a great time there. Monsoons were never so high and there often was water scarcity. I wouldn't say that the infrastructure was better however it wasn't that bad so that we had water logging anywhere. The city was good enough to welcome monsoons and storms/low pressure wasn't that dangerous. It was 2005 when it all started ever since I moved to Mudichur (Kanchipuram district) when I witnessed one of the harmful rains and incessant floods. Water entered our house with the house submerged with 3 ft water inside. In the roads, it was around 5 ft and we had a very difficult time vacating our houses to our relative's house at Tambaram East. Heavy water logging was everywhere between Mudichur and Tambaram and we found it difficult to commute. It was a high relief after we reached Tambaram East. Although there wasn't relief mesaures as such from the Govt. of Tamil Nadu, most of them @ Mudichur left our houses towards a better safe place.

2015 - Ever since then there was flood every year but on most of the occasions there was water logging for around 3-4 ft on the roads and didn't enter houses for the last 10 years. 2015 saw one of the biggest rains and twice water entered with all the houses @ Mudichur submerged with 15 ft of water, with almost water entering first floor. Couple of low pressure storms banged in on us and flooded us with pain. The city faced one of the worst disaster. Although there were difference in opinions regarding this as a man made disaster with several outer ring roads in the city turned dams and resulted in floods, it was one of the first time in 10 years that heavy rainfall was received. The State Govt. was hopeless but help came throughout out the state for Chennai. It was a great sample of truth that we stay together during the times of destruction. Mudichur became world famous beacuse of that and the Sembarambakkam lake was primarily attributed towards the reason for floods. Unauthorized occupants made the job worse by blocking the canal paths too narrow for water to drain. It took weeks for water to drain completely. Several lost their lives. The State Govt. was under hammer. We dismissed this finally with this as a one time issue.

2016 - Severe drought. Still we received moderate rainfall in Chennai with Mudichur again flooded with water entering the houses with 2 ft high.

2017 - Within 10 days of the monsoon season water entered the houses. Roads submerged and commute affected. State Govt. still didn't take any action to prevent his man made disaster, I don't know where the tax money is going but infrastructure wise Chennai administration is worse with every year we facing the same issue. This time not just Mudichur, almost every town within the city is affected. With nearly 1.5 months remaining of the winter season we expect more rainfall and flood. People have been condemning this non functioning State Govt. failing to deal with such issues proactively. The Ministers are hopeless. The real Estate is down in Chennai and woes of the people seems unending. People are homeless every year and they migrate during Oct-Dec. Most of them prefer to migrate Chennai permanently. High time has come to save lakes and lay out proper canals for water drainage. Encroachments have to be removed at any cost and our money has to be used in proper ways. We want better infrastructure in the city during monsoon seasons and this must not happen again in the future. The State Govt must ensure people safety and must be held solely responsible for any loss of material/life. Chennai is home to numerous number of lakes and water has to be preserved. Govt must take proper actions during winter season. It is a shame with this big city facing these kind of repetitive issues. People will not forgive if the Govt. backs down from offering a permanent solution.