Stop flood of rumours

Chennai: For television rating point (TRP) and sensation, the media have been sending crews and creating panic in low-lying areas of Mudichur, Perungalathur and Tambaram. There are also late night rumours on social media stating that Chembarambakkam lake is full and flood disaster is awaiting, said a senior official co-coordinating with the state disaster management control room. There are a few TV channels mixing live coverage with file videos dating back to 2015, creating unnecessary panic, the official said seeking anonymity. Even before the Chennai collector commenced the meeting with the education department on Tuesday there was a ‘breaking news’ stating schools declared a holiday in Chennai. Such ‘news’ without authenticity, puts immense pressure on us, forcing to declare a holiday, but the sun was shining the very next day, the IAS officer noted.

In case of north Chennai, there are issues with waterlogging and there can be no official justification for the electrocution death of two school-going children, but creating unnecessary panic is not good for the viewers and the administrators, the highly placed official in secretariat opined. The friction between the media and the administrators was also visible on Wednesday when a section of journalists cornered no-nonsense officer P. Amudha when she revealed that there are National Highways culverts blocking the flow of stormwater along GST road flooding southern suburbs. But when a series of queries were raised, Amudha initially explained that the state has identified the culverts and has written to NHAI seeking to widen culverts. But when the scribes insisted minute details like the locations of these culverts and when is the next meeting with NHAI and state officials scheduled, the upright officer abruptly ended the press briefing saying “that’s all I have”.

However, state disaster management commissioner K. Satyagopal views media reports as a tool that can stimulate the community and youngsters, when there are floods. “You (press and media) people played a constructive role during the 2015 flash floods and the social media helped people to speed up the relief. There is a need for such constructive responsibility. The role of media is to report on the errors, but at times the credit is not given if the situation has improved. For instance, the usual waterlogging at Olympia signal and Koyambedu is arrested, but this is not covered and such coverage will boost the morale of field workers and engineers who bring the change, he added.