The demand for modifying the existing public transit infrastructure to cope with inundation has started gaining momentum, with foreign researchers collecting primary data from residential neighbourhoods that were affected by floods.
Residents who participated in a consultative meeting for a field-based research project between the Department of Applied Geology of the University of Madras and the Climate Policy Group of ETH Zurich, Switzerland recently pointed to the barriers to flow of stormwater caused by the MRTS stretch from Velachery to Taramani.
Residents said the civic body and other line agencies were yet to remove barriers to flow of flood water in areas affected by floods in December.
“Community participation is a ray of hope in our neighbourhood. Residents with expertise in engineering, supported by researchers, analysed reasons for flooding in Velachery. Improper planning and design of MRTS from Taramani to Velachery has caused flooding in most parts of Velachery. We found five culverts are needed along the MRTS stretch from Taramani to Velachery,” said R. Sathiavelu, a Velachery resident, who participated in the meeting.
Garbage dumping
S. Kumarraja, another resident, said a study by residents found that the reduction in the area of Pallikaranai marshland by dumping of garbage by Chennai Corporation was another reason for the inundation of Velachery last year. Metrowater infrastructure in the marshland has also indirectly contributed to flooding.
“We have requested the government to declare the entire marshland as forest area. At least 750 acres of the marshland has been used by civic agencies, reducing the capacity of the marsh to receive floodwater,” said Mr. Kumarraja. Former Chennai Corporation official and disaster management expert N. Mathavan, who played a key role in the development of disaster resilience index for Chennai, said residents’ associations have started studying each of the gaps in civic infrastructure that cause flooding. The residents led by Mr. Mathavan have mapped flood-prone areas such as Velachery, identifying the gaps to monitor the civic infrastructure developments towards flood mitigation
Recovery efforts
In response to the devastating floods in November and December 2015 in Chennai, the research looks at the recovery efforts following the disaster. Mylapore and Velachery have been chosen as the primary study sites for the research project as they were among neighbourhoods that were most affected by the floods, said Jonas Joerin, Climate Policy and Sustainable Agroecosystems groups, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH ZURICH, Switzerland.
The project would also assess the recovery outcomes around one year after the events in 2015 and identify potential barriers of community involvement in the recovery process. Through a household survey, some of the residents of Mylapore and Velachery will share information about the recovery outcomes and potential barriers of getting involved in the recovery process. Representatives from these communities will also be requested to contribute and participate in the stakeholder meeting in each neighbourhood. Results of this study will be shared with residents in December. Researchers will start visiting households shortly.
A stakeholder meeting is planned on December 6 in Mylapore to provide an opportunity to local residents, governmental officials, representatives from NGOs and scientists to exchange their views on the ongoing recovery efforts and discuss jointly how to increase the resilience.
At the meeting, initial results from the field work conducted during the months of October and November would be presented to residents, followed by a discussion on how to strengthen the community-authority interplay and how to remove barriers of community involvement in the recovery process.
