Wake up TN State Govt

The State Govt. of Tamil Nadu misjudged the 2015 rains and the uninformed opening of the Sembarambakkam Lake turned into a mega tragedy with hundreds of lives lost and thousands left stranded homeless. The effect was devastating with over 8 hours of rainfall throughout the night and within 6 hours of the lake opening filled houses with terror. Almost all houses submerged with water trying to enter the first floor as few may recall. It was one of the worst man made disaster in the country and especially in the state, in the last 2 decades. The mismanagement of the situation and non administration of the Govt. came to the lights of the people. Although there were several relief measures adopted by the private welfare groups, the tackling of this situation by the Govt. was questioned by several media and political parties in the state.

Why proper measures were no taken to avoid these kinds of situations was the question and where does all our tax money go? Weren't we supposed to get good infrastructure with the city expanding in area and population, day by day? People vented out with frustration and anger. Some dismissed this as a one time event but clearly people were sure that because of improper drainage systems and encroachments were the reason behind this and the State Govt. turned away its head from all the issues. Several outer ring roads turned into dams resulting in huge floods with water taking over a week to drain. This coupled with further non stop rains did continous damage to the residents of Chennai. The Central Govt.'s offering of the monetray benefits to the Stage was meagre and insufficcient. Chennaittes faced weeks of nightmare without food and shelter.

When everyone expected that this was an example for what monsoons can bring especially during Oct-Dec, 2016 too saw floods though it saw below average rainfall in the city. Finally some measures were about to be adopted by the State but the matter was before law and the encroachments were not cleared. This hiccup existed throughout the year and there was no progress in empowering the infrastructure of the city. With the State. Govt in huge pressure to withhold its power and numbers in the state assembly, due to Hon'ble CM Jayalalithaa's illness and death and the cycle of events spanning for almost an year now, 2017 rains thrashed the state and the Govt. became hopeless. It was a 2015 repeat and the common man was left with fury and anger once again. After several political party leaders visited the state and after the cries of the people, finally law has enabled the Govt to exercise its power to remove the encroachments ASAP.

Mistakes are common but repeating it is not good. Hope the State Govt. wakes up and does its duty and gets back the faith of the people. The need of the hour is better infrastructure and proper drainage system. Permanent solution has to be implemented in the city as Chennai will be prone to further monsoons in the next few months. It is for the Govt to save its face from further going down in the minds of the people. If eminent steps are not taken, then there is no chance of getting back to power next time. Hope the Govt. understands this and favors people with good administration in the next 2 years. Let Chennai be a safe place and a well maintained one. Hope this Govt. will act now and make Ex CM Amma's dream of turning Chennai - the best city in the country comes true.