Cyclone Vardah: How Chennai Was Prepared This Time

Chennai: In December 2015, Chennai was in a dismal state. The city was warned by mid-October last year that it could see heavy rainfall that could cause flooding.

The Met Department then forecast that the seasonal rainfall was likely to be more than 112 percent. In December 2015, rains lashed the city killing over 280 and left thousands stranded. Back then the measures taken by the government were not enough.

When the government decided to release water from Chembarambakkam lake into the Adyar lake, even Chennai corporation officials, police department, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) were informed by 8 pm on Dec 1, 2015. The State Government, then, drew flak for not communicating with the people of Tamil Nadu.

It may be noted that there was anger against the AIADMK which is why the AIADMK won lost 10 of the 16 seats it contested in May 2016.

But this time around, the state government had on Decemeber 11 issued an advisory to the citizens asking them to take precautions ahead of cyclone Vardah.

The government asked people to stay indoors on Monday(December 12) and not allow children to venture out. It also asked people to stock adequate food stuffs, medicines and drinking water; keep emergency lights and mobile phones charged. People were asked to move to relief centres as and when advised by the officials. People were discouraged from using personal vehicles. Add to this, the Army, Navy, Coast Guard were alerted to be on stand-by for rescue and relief operations. The NDRF teams, SDRF, Fire an Rescue services were also positioned in the low-lying areas of the state districts: Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram.

This was O.Panneerselvam’s first challenge after he became the Chief Minister on December 5, 2016. After Met Department warned of cyclone Vardah, the chief minister swung into action. On December 11, he held a meet with the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Agency (TNSDMA) at the Secretariat to review preparedness of the state for cyclone Vardah.

Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar, Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao, Adviser to Government Sheela Balakrishnan, Home Secretary Apurva Varma and secretaries of various other departments were present at the meet.

He directed IAS officers to monitor officers and oversee the rescue work. The power supply was also cut to ensure safety.

On December 12, 2016, the state government used all resources possible to communicate with the people.

The Tamil Nadu Disaster Management Authority used Twitter to give constant updates all through the day.

Press releases were issued to media on the rescue work being carried out by the government. Of the 2000 odd trees that were uprooted, over 600 were cleared the first day. All the officials were out on the streets to clear as many fallen trees as possible.

On December 13 too when people complained of power cuts, the government used Twitter to inform people that all efforts are being made by the government to restore power. They also gave updates on the areas that were cleared. The party’s AIADMK official Twitter handle too was seen giving constant updates.

This is the first time the state government’s PRO was sending constant pictures of the relief and rescue work done.

So has the state government learnt its lessons from the December deluge?

Dhanya Rajendran, Editor-in-Chief, TheNewsMinute said, “The Government seems to have learned its lessons from the December 2015 debacle. During the floods, the Government was inaccessible, clueless and relegated to the background. But this time, they were active in disseminating information and in co-ordinating efforts.”

She further added: "I am part of a group chat run by Chennai Rain Relief,an organisation that has done amazing work during the floods and during Vardah too. They co-ordinate with volunteers and government. Everyone in that group agreed yesterday(December 12) that the government had been exemplary in routing relevant information."