Chennai Corporation, with support from line agencies, will formulate disaster risk mitigation measures for city neighbourhoods.
After a meeting on this aspect of civic governance on Monday, Corporation officials said the formulation of risk mitigation measures will be done for each neighbourhood which is vulnerable to drought, flood, cyclone, slum fire and tsunami.
Multilateral funding agencies have also started studying various risk mitigation proposals in the city to provide funding. For example, a project to restore old links between temple tanks in Mylapore, restoration of groundwater level and wastewater recycling in the area has been found to be feasible. The project is set to be taken up at an estimated cost of ₹70 crore. The detailed project report will be prepared shortly.
The project aims at development of nature-based decentralised wastewater recycling plants in various neighbourhoods. Experts from countries such as The Netherlands will visit the city this week to assist the civic agencies in implementation of the project.
Drought-prone city
Chennai Corporation Chief Resilience Officer Krishna Mohan Ramachandran said the project is expected to get funding from the Green Climate Fund.
“We should recognise the fact that Chennai is a more drought-prone city than a flood-prone city,” he said. “The city needs to be better prepared for drought. We should increase the city's ability to hold and retain rainwater which we have lost,” he added.
Disaster management expert N. Mathavan said the civic agencies should prepare a revised vulnerability mapping for different types of disasters in the city. “Residents should know how to face a disaster. They should be aware of all aspects of disaster mitigation. We should have a standard operating procedure,” he said.
