Chennai floods: Plea in Supreme Court for regulation of records, plans
New Delhi: Alarmed at the vast devastation caused by the floods in Chennai, Puducherry and some parts of Andhra Pradesh, a public interest writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court to call for the relevant records and master plans of the storm water drain system pertaining to these States.
The petitioner, Kiruba Munusamy, advocate also sought a direction to set up an expert committee to inspect, recommend and to scientifically redesign the existing storm water drain system into an effective and ideal river based storm water drain management system in order to manage floods and prevent water-logging in the upcoming years.
She said this year during the north east monsoon, floods resulted from heavy rainfall during November-December 2015 and it affected the Coromandel Coast region of the South Indian States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, with Tamil Nadu and the city of Chennai particularly hard-hit.
It is reported that more than 450 people have died and over 1.8 million people have been displaced. Damages and losses as a result of the floods are estimated to be more than Rs 20,000 crore.
The very heavy rains led to flooding across the entire stretch from Chennai to Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. The highest amount of rainfall continued to lash the districts of Chidambaram, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Vellore, Villupuram, and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and the districts of Chittoor, Nellore and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.
The torrential rains induced by the cyclonic depression leads to flood because of the illegal encroachment of the natural water bodies and improper rainwater drainage management system.
