Simple stories can have incredible motive power. They can galvanise whole groups into action. It’s likely that nine out of every ten people reading this article are aware of the timeless story of a Dutch boy who plugged a hole in a dyke with his finger and saved his neighbourhood from flooding. At some point of time, most of us have had this story as part of our English language textbook, haven’t we?
Set in Netherlands, this powerful story, written around 150 years ago by American writer Mary Mapes Dodge, has become an idiom for the benefits of timely action. In fact, the English language reflects this fact, through the phrase “put one’s finger in the dyke”. The protagonist of the story — the little Dutch boy — has become the epitome of a responsible citizen who would go to any trouble to ensure the safety of his neighbourhood.
Interestingly, the writer left the little heroic boy unnamed (later, in the adapted versions of the story, he received a name), which is actually a good thing. For, this way, each of us can more easily put ourselves in his shoes. In Chennai, we can. After what we went through in November-December 2015, we really can. The December Deluge, as it is often referred to, has offered us many lessons. Now, as residents, we know “the holes in the dyke”, so to speak, in our neck of the woods.
The question is: How many of us are putting a finger in the dyke?
To partly answer the question, last week we ran a story in the OMR-Adyar-ECR edition of The Hindu Downtown about how the owners association at Mantri Synergy, a gated community on Old Mahabalipuram, acted proactively in November 2015, following a heavy downpour, to safeguard their power installation from flooding, which saved the day for them during the Big Downpour in December. Subsequently, they also ensured that the State Highways Department laid a pipeline to convey stagnant water on the premises of the gated community to a stormwater drain. The residents are also undertaking an engineering solution to prevent their basement from getting flooded.
“In response to the account of how we managed to cope with the December floods and the proactive measures we have taken to tackle similar situations in the future, members of many other residents associations in the OMR and Adyar region have contacted us, seeking our help. We are willing to share with many others our story so that they could benefit too,” says Gopalan Ramanujam, president of Mantri Synergy Owners Association, who can be contacted at 98400-01909.
Harsha Koda, secretary of Sabari Terrace Flat Owners Association, and coordinator of Federation of OMR Residents Associations, talks about the proactive measures the Association at Sabari Terrace in Sholinganallur has planned.
“Before the end of September, we plan to have four major issues addressed. One, the manhole for the fresh water sumps has been raised by about 4 feet — this will hopefully ensure that the precious water that we 'buy' is not contaminated by the flood waters. Status: completed.
“Two, the walls of the entrance to the underground STP plant are being raised, creating a futuristic ‘bunker’ type of entrance so that we do not have to shut down the plant even if it floods. Status: being executed this week.
“Three, the staff are working on a way to raise the height of the genset by about 5 to 6 feet so that we do not have to be 'powerless'. Status: to be completed by second week of September.
“Four, our neighbouring complex, Mondrain is slightly higher than ours, and residents there have a direct outlet onto OMR... so we have opened a small wicket gate between our two apartment complexes so people can walk through the two complexes to reach OMR without having to walk on the flooded road. Status: Done.”
Downtown Cares, a special community outreach initiative of The Hindu Downtown, invites other associations to share accounts of what they are doing to ensure they escape Deluge-like situations unscathed. In their accounts, they could also bring to our notice sections in their neck of the woods that are flooding-prone. Through these accounts, they will be able to communicate their concerns to the authorities concerned.
To meet Team Downtown and share their unique stories of monsoon-preparedness, residents welfare associations should call 28576631/ 28576716
