People's Democracy

CPI(M) state secretary N Varadarajan touring the flood-affected areas

AT the time of writing this, with a fourth round of cyclonic system developing in the far eastern shores, the threat of another storm, associated with heavy rains, lashing Tamilnadu during the second week of December 2005 is very real. The official death toll on account of floods had crossed 415 – 102 in October, 286 in November and 27 in the first five days of December. Rashtrapathi A P J Abdul Kalam and union ministers Shivaraj Patil and P Chidambaram visited the flood-affected areas even as all political parties were in the forefront of relief and rescue activities

After two spells of heavy rains in the second half of October and mid November, a central government team visited the flood-affected areas in Tamilnadu to assess the damage and fix the quantum of central assistance as against the claim of the state government for a relief package of Rs 1742 crore. Even as the team met with the chief minister and the officials on November 17 at the secretariat, the third cyclonic system was developing about 400 km east of Pamban coast. And no sooner had the central team left Chennai, the rains arrived inflicting an unprecedented damage to life and property in almost 11 districts, warranting the help of the army and coast-guards for rescue and relief operations. The naval helicopters from the Sulur base were pressed into service to drop food pockets and rescue people and livestock from the marooned villages.

A total of 145 innocent lives were lost in two separate incidents on November 25 while the crowded buses in which they were travelling were washed away by swirling flash-floods from the causeway of rivers. Chennai city was cut off from the southern parts of the state for five continuous days, from November 24 to 28. Neither buses nor trains could pass beyond Chingleput, 100 km south of Chennai. Railway lines were breached and washed away in more than one place. Again, Chennai was lashed by continuous rains for 24 hours (amounting to 300 mm rain) from the morning of December 2. Around 3.5 lakh food packets were distributed by the government to Chennai residents on December 2 while another 5 lakh packets were distributed the next day. The government opened 140 relief centres in Chennai city alone.

The sluices of the Chembarambakkam lake were opened and nearly 45 days of water supply to Chennai city was let out into the Adyar river. Inhabitations around the Adyar river embankments were the worst hit, with people not able to retrieve anything from their homes, which were fully submerged under water. The area in the southern periphery around Velachery was also hit badly. Fishing boats and motorised trawlers have been pressed into service to rescue marooned people. The city is still struggling to limp back to normalcy.

Earlier, in October there were heavy rains for more than a week, starting from October 12. The entire north Chennai was under water, forcing the government to declare an immediate relief of Rs 1000 cash and a sari and a dhoti to every affected house. However, the distribution of relief reached only a few sections of the affected families, forcing the people to come on to the streets and indulge in rasta roko agitation almost every day.

From the night of October 26 through the morning of October 29, Chennai witnessed unprecedented rain in the city – 400 mm rainfall in around forty hours. This time, all the lakes and water bodies in and around Chennai were full. The Adyar river was in spate and all peripheral areas were affected. On November 6, six people died in a stampede in Vyasarpadi area when they went to collect relief material.

The districts around Chennai viz, Thiruvallur, Kanchepuram, Villupuram, Dharmapuri and Thiruvannamalai were also severely affected by these incessant rains. Hundreds of lakes and ponds – both big and small – became full. Many villages were surrounded by water, putting the people under great difficulty.

The Cuddalore district, along with Pondicherry, was the worst affected area during this season not just because of rains but also because they were on the downstream of Coloroon river of the Cauvery basin. On October 17, the Mettur Stanley Reservoir was full to the brim for the third time in a row in one particular year. There were copious inflows too due to rains in the catchment areas, forcing the authorities to release the water into Cauvery river. After the Grand anaicut on Cauvery became full, the authorities decided to release the water for the second time within a fortnight into Coloroon river. Three lakh cusecs of water gushed out of the sluices, breaching all barriers and entered into all villages on the wayside. Already, thanks to the three rounds of heavy rains, all the lakes in and around Cuddalore district were full. The excess water from lakes, the water from Coloroon and continuing heavy rain resulted in a hell-like situation for the people during the last week of November. The entire district administration with the help of police, army and people struggled hard to overcome this unprecedented calamity. Salem, Namakkal, Erode and Karur districts, which are on the course of the Cauvery river, were also badly affected. Trichirapalli and Srirangam towns were virtually under water for more than a week. The rains had not spared the Madurai district too. The Vaigai river was also in spate.

The suffering of farmers in Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts continued for the fourth consecutive year. Earlier, three years of drought had driven the people out of the districts seeking employment elsewhere. But during middle August, when Mettur dam had become full during the southwest monsoon, hopes sprouted in the minds of the peasants. But, alas, the incessant rains dashed their hopes and their crops have been completely damaged, leading to losses of crores of rupees.

The state government had initially announced a cash relief of Rs 1000 to the affected families on the basis of the classification of their ration cards. It increased the amount to Rs 2000 after the devastation wreaked by the rains assumed the status of a calamity. It also provided other essential items to all those who were affected, irrespective of their ration cards’ status. The administration responded to the situation to the best of its ability and undertook serious efforts. However, the magnitude of the calamity, the refusal by the administration to involve all political parties on the ground and certain failures at the delivery stage led to the government not meeting the expectations of the people at large. The state government sought a disaster relief of about Rs 12,800 crore from the prime minister’s National Calamity Relief Fund. Last week the central government had announced an initial amount of Rs 500 crore for relief, which is grossly insufficient.