DELUGE AND AFTER

Monsoon rains batter Tamil Nadu in an unprecedented manner, plunging lakhs of people, especially farmers, across the State into a flood of hardships.

S. VISWANATHAN in Chennai

THE year 2005 will go down in the collective memory of people of Tamil Nadu as one of suffering. The year began with the agonising wails of the victims of the tsunami that battered the State's coast on December 26, 2004. It is nearing its end with unprecedented rains and floods that have played havoc with the lives of lakhs of people in 22 of the 30 districts.

Four spells of rain in 40 days from the second week of October affected people in both urban and rural areas. If the tsunami hit the fishing community the most, the floods targeted mainly the agrarian communities. Landholders and cultivators have suffered crop losses that run into hundreds of crores of rupees and landless agricultural labourers have lost their jobs and earnings.

Two temple towns, Srirangam in Tiruchi district and Chidambaram in Cuddalore district, were badly mauled by the floods. Hundreds of water bodies breached their banks and a number of villages were marooned as a result. Many roads were water-logged. Traffic to the many southern districts was cut off for long periods. Train and bus services between Chennai and the southern towns were either cancelled or diverted several times.

A notable feature of the calamity has been the increased presence of the urban middle-class among the affected people. Many of them, living in towns and the suburbs of cities, were marooned at their homes for several days when floodwaters entered their houses or ground-floor apartments. Many families had to spend the nights in darkness, with no power supply, and with snakes for company. Life was no better for those who live in flats in higher floors either; marooned, they had to look for relief from outside. Understandably, they vented their anger on the builders, town planners and officials who gave clearance to substandard buildings in low-lying areas. Ironically, many of these flats were constructed by the state-run Tamil Nadu Housing Board. The engineers and managers of dams and lakes were also not spared for releasing surplus water without adequate warning.

The first spell of floods was brought about mainly by the release of surplus waters from the Mettur reservoir in the last week of October. It flooded many areas, particularly in the Cauvery delta districts. It also crippled Chennai. The second, in early November, dislocated life once again in about 15 tsunami-affected coastal districts. The third spell brought rain to 22 inland districts in the third week of November. The fourth spell, in the first week of December, was caused by the release of excess water from the three storage lakes that cater to the drinking water needs of Chennai.

Although the government said that people living in areas likely to be affected had been warned of the release of water sufficiently early, residents of a number of colonies said they had been caught unawares. In the fourth spell people in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts also were affected because of breaches in water bodies.

About 500 people in the State lost their lives in the flood in these four spells of rain, which were caused by four "systems" or series of depressions and low pressures and troughs, which are a feature of the season. Nearly 100 of the dead were passengers of two buses that were washed away by flash floods, one in Thanjavur district and the other in Ramanathapuram district.

If the overall flood toll is not much larger, it is because of the swift rescue operations. Fire service personnel, the police and members of several political and non-political organisations, besides members of the public in many areas, assisted the rescue operations. The services of the Army was also requisitioned in a number of places to rescue victims and to repair tanks and roads.

The State government responded to the situation with relief operations that kept pace with the needs. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa visited several affected places in Chennai and in Tiruchi, Cuddalore and other districts. She ordered a relief package that covered all sections of the affected people. Even as the government claimed that relief supplies were being distributed properly, there were protests in several areas against the government's "failure" to ensure prompt relief measures.

Praise for the State government's relief work came surprisingly from a Tamil Nadu-based Union Minister belonging to the Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Subbulakshmi Jegadeesan said: "The flood relief work in the State in general and in the districts of Salem, Namakkal and Erode, in particular has been satisfactory."

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and many of his colleagues, and DMK president M. Karunanidhi were among the other leaders who visited the affected areas.

Two Central teams visited the areas affected by the floods to assess the damage and their reports are awaited at the time of writing. Jayalalithaa has sought a total Central assistance of Rs.13,685 crores, besides enhanced supply of rice and kerosene. The Centre responded with a release of Rs.500 crores as advance and the Chief Minister has expressed her "unhappiness" about it. She asked the Centre to expedite the sanctioning of the entire amount. She also recalled that the Central assistance for the tsunami victims in the State also was a mere Rs.679.61 crores compared with the State government's allocation of Rs.875.62 crores. The Centre's delay in sanctioning funds has generated a controversy (see separate story).

COPIOUS rain and unprecedented floods left a trail of death and devastation in the coastal Cuddalore district, which is highly vulnerable to natural disasters thanks to its geographical location. After having undergone the trauma of the tsunami, from which it is yet to recover, the district was battered by torrential rainfall and floods in four spells in quick succession, from October 26 to November 28. Over 300 villages were marooned, displacing 3.5 lakh people and necessitating the opening of about 150 relief centres. The floods claimed 36 lives and hundreds of livestock. Two power sub-stations became dysfunctional, and hundreds of electric poles were washed away, thus plunging the inundated villages in darkness for about 10 days.

The temple town of Chidambaram remained cut off for a couple of days, as all the approach roads were flooded, dislocating vehicular traffic and disrupting supply of essentials, including milk. Annamalai University, located in the district, remained closed for three weeks from November 17, owing to the inundation of its sprawling campus. Patients in the Rajah Muthiah Medical College Hospital were shifted to the first floor from the ground floor when water entered the premises.

The Manimuktha river, which was in spate, washed away the fragile causeway at Vriddhachalam, severing its link to the rest of the district. The turbulent river even changed its course and claimed 300 metres of private land. The Cuddalore-Kumbakonam road was damaged for a distance of 5 km, throwing traffic to the southern districts into disarray. Rural and urban roads for a total distance of over 5,000 km were damaged.

Many inhabitants of the marooned villages lived in panic, until they were rescued. When flow in the Kollidam (Coleroon) rose to nearly four lakh cusecs, the habitations and farmlands along its course faced a grave threat. With the swollen river trundling along, the district administration faced the unique problem of "reverse flow of water": when the sea could not absorb the heavy inflow immediately, the swirling waters changed course and flooded vast areas. This reverse flow posed a serious challenge to the administrators.

District Collector Gagandeep Singh Bedi kept the official machinery well-oiled and in fine fettle. The valuable experience he gained in disaster management during last year's tsunami helped him greatly. Bedi himself joined the rescue operations in some places. The services of the Coast Guard and the Army were requisitioned for logistical support, for rescuing people and for rendering medical aid. Two helicopters were used to drop food packets in some inaccessible areas.

EXACTLY a month after the flood caused by the heavy surplus discharge into the Cauvery from the Mettur reservoir in the last week of October, a much heavier deluge engulfed large areas of Tiruchi district on November 24. Unlike the previous occasion, when the primary source of the calamity lay in the surplus flow in the Cauvery and the Kollidam, gushing waters from rivers, tanks and irrigation channels from different directions overwhelmed Tiruchi city and hundreds of villages in the district. Tens of thousands of residents were affected when residential areas were marooned for four days. Sheets of water covered standing crops, mostly paddy and banana, on thousands of hectares in the district. Eleven persons died in flood-related incidents, while more than 125 head of cattle were also lost.

Tiruchi was almost cut off from the rest of the State as road and rail links were snapped owing to the flooding of highways and railway tracks. Two minor bridges were washed away between Kattur and Pullampadi on the Tiruchi-Chennai railway line, forcing the suspension of trains. The Southern Railway worked overtime to restore traffic within a couple of days. Road traffic to and from Tiruchi was again suspended when all major highways were under water for a couple of days. Srirangam came under renewed threat after water started seeping through a weak stretch of the Cauvery's bank at Melur, which threatened to give way, in October. A disaster was averted after hundreds of villagers reinforced the bund with sand bags under the supervision of Public Works Department officials.

The situation in the rural areas of the district was equally bad as several tanks and channels breached, inundating entire villages. Many villages remained cut off for a couple of days. Thuraiyur, Uppilliyapuram, Manachanallur, Lalgudi, Pullampadi and Musiri blocks were among the worst affected areas. Over 100 villages were affected by the floods. About 50,000 people were evacuated from various parts of the district and accommodated in temporary shelters. The Army joined the rescue efforts in Tiruchi. In many areas boats and makeshift rafts were used to rescue victims.

Jayalalithaa, who visited Srirangam, has promised to take up on a priority basis the proposal to construct retaining walls along the Cauvery and the Kollidam in Tiruchi at a cost of Rs.68 crores.

IN Pudukottai district, heavy rains washed away standing paddy crops on vast stretches of land and caused substantial damage to roads, tanks, culverts, causeways and bridges. The district received 315 mm of rainfall in just four days, which is two-thirds of the rainfall that it normally receives from the three month-long northeast monsoon. Over 2,000 tanks breached in the district, resulting in damage to agricultural land and houses, besides roads, at several places. Over 11,000 huts and about 2,000 tiled houses were damaged, forcing over 8,000 people to take shelter in the 51 relief centres. The large number of fish workers in the district also suffered for a week because they could not venture into the sea.

Perambalur district is among the worst-affected. Ten persons were killed and 18,000 people rendered homeless, and over 18,600 ha of crops, about 50 per cent of it paddy, was damaged. The second spell of floods, in the last week of November, proved a testing time for farmers, hut-dwellers and to some extent even the district administration. It struck the district, even before the people could recover from the shock of the first. In fact, the second spell was more intense and dislocated vehicular traffic on the Chennai-Tiruchi national highway and other important roads.

Although floods are not new to the people of Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts, this monsoon brought great misery. After three years of drought, the monsoon rain last year disappointed the farmers by washing away their crops in many places. This time, it has been more severe.

Thanjavur district received 237.80 mm of rainfall in October against the normal 181.25 mm. In November the rainfall recorded was 517 mm, more than double the normal 222.65 mm. For December, the normal rainfall of 127.43 mm was almost reached in the first five days.

After a gap of 40 years the Kollidam, the major flood carrier, was in spate. Not once but twice.

In October it reached a flow of 2.35 lakh cusecs and in November 37 lakh cusecs, this time water flowing one foot above the bank at places such as Karupur and Kudikadu in Papanasam taluk in Thanjavur district. Thokur village near the Grand Anicut was marooned.

In all, the PWD engineers put the number of breaches at 848 in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Pudukottai districts. As a result, vast areas of paddy fields were inundated in Thanjavur district. While the crop was submerged in 71,000 ha each in Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts 50 per cent of the submerged crops were damaged.

In Tiruvarur district also, submersion of crops was reported on nearly 70,000 ha. In both the districts, samba and tahaladi crops were cultivated on 1,40,000 ha each.

Damage was caused not only to paddy but also to horticultural crops. In Thanjavur district, crops such as banana and betel vine were damaged.

More than two lakh people were evacuated in both the districts. The national highway between Thanjavur and Tiruchi was cut off owing to breaches at two places - one near Sengipatti in Thanjavur and another near Thuvakudi near Tiruchi. Many lives were lost in Thanjavur district. While 10 persons died as a result of wall collapse and electrocution in the two districts, 53 were killed and 31 injured when a private bus was washed away in flash floods at Perumalkoil near Pattukottai on November 25.

With inputs from A.V. Raghunathan in Cuddalore, S. Ganesan in Tiruchi, R. Rajaram in Pudukottai, G. Srinivasan in Thanjavur and M. Balaganessin in Perambalur.