The 2015 floods was a wake-up call for the residents of Rani Meyammai Towers in MRC Nagar, a gated community of more than 250 families. The Adyar river is just in their backyard and when the water level rose, the residents swung into action. They lined up sand bags along the compound wall to prevent rainwater from entering the premises.
“The floodwater reached our basements but we averted major damage by placing the sandbags along the compound wall. The floods in 2015 showed us what could happen if civic infrastructure is not managed properly. From then on, we have taken utmost care to ensure the stormwater drains in our locality get desilted. Recharge wells have also been built in stagnation-prone areas,” said Padmini Srinivasan, a member of Rani Meyammai Towers Owners Association (RMTOA).
According to Balaji Seshadri, an ex-committee member of the association who was actively involved in monitoring and coordination during the floods and cyclone Vardah in 2016, if drains are cleaned periodically, there will be no question of flooding. Our apartment complex has about 90 drains within the compound and the association ensures they are cleared at regular intervals. “Since we were doing this even before the flood hit, there wasn’t much of stagnation inside the apartment complex even though the roads in the neighbourhood were heavily inundated,” he added.
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With periodical follow-ups and monitoring, the Association also ensures that infrastructure and essential services in the apartment complex are up and running. “We go by the motto ‘brace yourself, plan ahead and execute.’ Our committee members procure and keep stock of fuel for electricity back up. The residents are sent alerts and updates of all the initiatives. Our community does not hesitate to come together when things get worse. Even when the flood hit us, we opened our spaces to the domestic help and other staff who could not go back to their homes. We all made sure they had enough food and basic amenities till the water receded,” Padmini said.
