Managing Michaung

S Balakrishnan *

Our street three days after cyclone, with broen branches

The Michaung (pronounced Migjaum) Cyclone was playing truant with Chennai for about a week. It seemed Michaung was indulging in hide-and-seek with Chennaites. It was either slowly moving or put stayed at the same point for hours together or was dithering here & there, as if reluctant to embrace land.

Finally, Michaung did avoid Chennai City but by then much damage had already been done. Named Michaung by Myanmar (meaning strength, resilience, power), the cyclone was perhaps attracted to Madras with ‘M’ as the first letter (Chennai’s earlier name).

Cyclones are not new to the coastal State of Tamil Nadu. In fact, October to December is the monsoon / cyclone season over here; sometimes it extends to January also. Weather over here is simply classified as hot, hotter and hottest; so people should be welcoming cyclones that bring in lots of rains to cool the land and the people.

But twice in the recent past, Chennai almost started floating due to rains and floods; boats became the mode of transport for about a week in some low lying areas prone to floods. The joke was that prospective bridegrooms from Chennai were asked by the girl’s parents if he owned a boat, not a car or bike! Call it mismanagement or whatever, but from then on Chennaites started fearing the rainy season.

Our ground floor flat was flooded twice in the past (during the rule of AIADMK party headed by Jayalalithaa) with ankle-deep water. As the water started seeping in, initially we (especially our children) were excited as it was our first such experience; but then as the level started rising slowly and steadily, we were scared. Cleaning the house of the muck left behind was such a bothersome and nasty task. The odour persisted for days together.

Now, it is the rule of the DMK party headed by M.K. Stalin, the arch rival of AIADMK. So the opposition AIADMK got the golden opportunity of mocking the DMK of spending 4,000 crore rupees for flood management in Chennai and yet ‘Singaara‘ (Shringaar/ beautiful) Chennai turned out to be ‘Dirtier’ Chennai. [It was MK Stalin’s pet scheme, when he was Mayor of the City, to convert Chennai into a Singaara Chennai like Singapore, but to this day it remains a day dream.]

DMK’s clever counter to this alegation is that only because 4,000 crore worth work was carried out, this much limited damage. It is anybody’s guess where much of the 4,000 crore rupees would have gone – not down in the drain but up in the pockets of all those who matter from top to bottom.

Ultimately, it is the hapless citizens suffering in the political blaming game of DMK vs. AIADMK. After Maichung, Tamil Nadu State government has now sought a central assistance of 5,000 crore rupees - for another mega flood prevention scheme?

Learning lessons from the past cyclones, my wife schemed to fully load the fridge with vegetables, idly/dosa batter and milk, alas, without foreseeing that there would be no power for 48 hours! Luckily the overhead water tank had been filled to the brim, so we had running water despite power cut. I assured my betterhalf that I would haul water from the sump to our 2nd floor flat.

Mind you, the lift was not working and I would have had to climb forty steps in all. For two days we missed reading the morning newspaper with morning coffee – no paper and no milk. Not the filter coffee but instant coffee; we loathe the cumbersome preparation process of coffee decoction. But we do love filter coffee, if someone offers!

Michaung battered Chennai with continuous rain from Sunday (3rd Dec.) evening to Monday night, for straight 36 hours, as it laid centered some 100 kms off Chennai coast for 17 hours. Certain areas of Chennai received 73 cm of rain in these two days (30 cm = one foot/ 12 inches).

A maximum rainfall of 34 cm in one day was recorded in the suburban town of Poonthamalli. As rain poured, our street resembled a rivulet with ankle-deep water continuously flowing; so much of water going waste, I felt sad. Within the next few months, Chennai would be thirsting for water.

A highlight of the rescue efforts was the rescuing of Bollywood actor Aamir Khan from the house of Kollywood (Tamil moviedom) actor Vishnu Vishal, who actually hails from Haryana! Well, what is life without some glamour – it was provided by the rescuing of actress Namitha with her pet dog, after three days of marooning.

Well, everyone knows the reasons for Chennai turning into a Venice (OMG, Have I given a new idea to Chief Minister Stalin to convert Chennai into Venice?); many waterbodies (lakes and ponds and the rivers) have already vanished or are slowly vanishing, and whatever remains is also chocking with plastic and waste due to corruption & commission.

If full-hearted measures are not taken, the next rains would turn the submerged Chennai into a Venice forever.