Chennai floods: Is there a way out of the crisis?
The challenges of Chennai floods and devastation impact analysis of cyclones are becoming a major human survival and environmental challenges caused by climate change, systemic failure and above all the common political culture of blame game in state politics
The challenges of Chennai floods and devastation impact analysis of cyclones are becoming a major human survival and environmental challenges caused by climate change, systemic failure and above all the common political culture of blame game in state politics. The crisis is far deeper than any single party or government can be held responsible and when we are talking about the crisis, we are mostly evaluating the response(s) and rehabilitation works of the party and government in power. Any government faced with a challenge of addressing the crisis under circumstances of 40 cm of rainfall inundating the city within 48 hours is unlikely to swim through the crisis without a barrage of critical questions, public scrutiny and perform to the satisfaction of all. It takes enormous political maturity for the critics of the government and opposition parties to rise to the occasion and join the government in relief and rehabilitation works. There is an equal responsibility of the government to accommodate and address the concerns of the opposition. But the overriding urge for political competition among political parties has been the norm and culture of politics in Tamil Nadu even under the dire circumstance of natural calamities like the one recently witnessed in Chennai caused by the cyclone Michaung.
There are changing and unchanging characteristics to the Chennai floods, battering of the cyclones, deriding role of opposition parties, predicament of the ruling party, publicity shows of cinema stars, dedicated social workers, argumentative civil society, opening of all places of worship for food and shelter, kitchen bureaucracy and ultimately the response of the government of Tamil Nadu with a monetary compensation of a certain amount to appease all. The attention is then diverted towards increasing the ceiling of the stipulated amount as a debate among the political parties and deliberations about the appropriate mechanism for distribution of this announced compensation. There are no distinctions between festivals and disasters. The monetary compensations are incentives to preserve our systemic failure and protect the corrupt party-political and administrative system than collectively addressing the challenges of urban planning, environmental justice, development issues and climate change. There are only two changes that are visible every time a major cyclone or rainfall strikes the Chennai city — the name of the cyclone and the political party in power. The rest are all the same and unchanging. What is the way out of this crisis?
This is not the time to compare and contrast the performances of different parties in power and governments in order to contain this crisis as a battle of partisan narratives and focus this occasion for trading charges of corruption and ineptness of the government. The crises caused by the neglect, corruption and indifference of the entire system for several decades cannot be located within a single party or the government in power. We need to undertake a collective responsibility including the civil society in Tamil Nadu. It is important to address this challenge in a more holistic way with an understanding of the problem of climate change as a global phenomenon yet we must recognise the problems, hurdles and opportunities within the government and administration in Tamil Nadu. This can only be undertaken with meaningful exchanges, co-operation and understanding between the state and central government in New Delhi because of the fact that this is not an isolated crisis for Chennai alone. The climate change and sea level rise are also serious concerns for other major cities like Mumbai and Kolkata and several other mega cities in the Indian Ocean and Pacific islands. A part of the solution lies in addressing this challenge collectively in a more organised communication and sharing responses between state governments and the Union government as well as through regional and global initiatives to advocate and enforce norms and regulatory mechanisms with strong compliance systems.
It is time for reality check about the city planning and urban development of Chennai and evaluate the threats and challenges in terms of natural calamities and climate change issues. We need to work at two levels simultaneously from the ground in terms of policy focus and structural shifts and with the national and global governments in terms of policy framework, technical assistance, structural cooperation and financial planning including the borrowings from the World Bank with long-term technical and financial commitments. The challenge is both local and global. The solutions have to come from local, national and global governments and international organisations. Every crisis presents an opportunity.
We need to study the global experiments not only about disaster management in circumstances like tsunami, earthquakes and floods but also conversion of the crises to constructive solutions. We are discussing about managing the water bodies and river systems with ethical commitment and accountability in public administration. The contract culture within our political system from the panchayats to Parliament needs to be reviewed. The government should also engage the experts, technocrats, development planners, environmentalists, irrigation and structural engineers to convert a part of the city into a safe zone with time plan as a micro model project and precursor for the subsequent conversion of the affected parts of the rest of city and other adjoining areas with permanent and lasting solutions. Tamil Nadu has the capacity of human, technical and required knowledge-base to address this mega challenge. Great cities were not built in a day. It requires time and determination to pursue the details. We need to understand that politicians by profession all over the world are not trained to think beyond the ballot box and the next elections while the bureaucracy is always busy fence sitting with service books. This government has the time and opportunity to make a difference. A small beginning with micro model zone project in a designated waterlog area within Great Chennai can go a long way as the wisdom dictates that to remove a mountain we must first carry the small stones away.
(Prof. Ramu Manivannan is a scholar-academic-social activist in areas of education, human rights and sustainable development through an initiative “Multiversity.” He is currently the Visiting Professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, Colorado, USA.)