May be flood... may be tsunami... my be earthquake... may be volcano.. who knows...

Enough we have talked about the reason for the flood..

Enough we have blamed on everyone possible..

There are clear evidence from every political party that their statements, actions and propaganda are all centered towards the upcoming election. Their desperation for ensuring the vote citing the flood event is more blatant. Only difference is, the ruling party cites the talent and versatility of its governance in handling the flood and opposition citing the flaws in such versatility and the so called talent.

I am not going to discuss the political motives of such parties, every one is having election as their motive behind their speech and not the real need of the hour for my city and my state.

But, its really hard for us to brush aside these parties as well, because, in the end you have to choose one for exercising your franchise and if you choose wise and sensible representative, then rest will happen in its due course.

Now! Shall we just divert our debate on what is the appropriate requirement and the need of the hour for the city and the state?

To begin with!

I strongly contradict the fact that all water ways and marsh lands of Chennai (Tamil Nadu as a whole / India as a whole / World as a whole / take what ever way you want) to be restored to its original capacity, like how it was in 1960s.

The reason is.. If you want to... then, you have to destroy and rehabilitate half of Chennai, and it would be more expensive than the expense of the damage the city have gone through.

You saw a dramatic flood and you will change the city to withstand this kind of flood in the future. Then an earthquake will come and you will further change your action centered with earthquake, then  a tsunami will come and you will further change the coastal areas adapting to the future tsunami.

I remember the advise given by prominent scientists to grow long trees in the sea shore to avoid the impact of future tsunami and rehabilitate all the fisher man to at least 2 kms from the sea shore.

Do we really think its practically possible? Fisherman's livelihood is in the sea and he would really want to be as close as possible. If you alter your infrastructure for each and every such calamities then we can probably leave this world and find some other planet to live. Because, we have screwed this planet as much as possible and it will definitely react to it by further calamities in the future.

No one knows in which form or way.

May be flood.. may be tsunami.. my be earthquake.. may be volcano.. who knows..

You know how much waste you are generating... You know how much fossil fuel you are using... You know how much natural resources you are wasting... Don't we think we should be reasonable enough to give diligent respect to them, as much as possible and reduce the impact?

A cleaner city... a perfectly linked water ways... an un-evading drainage system... a greener transport... a sensible waste management... a responsible natural resource utilization...

Aren't these the demanding topic for our discussion than to talk about who did wrong and who did write?

Sad that no one is now thinking about the need of the hour, but centering themselves to gather vote...

Sick!!!

Clearing Encroachments and rehabilitation...

The day for me today didn’t start quite well, after I saw the news about the tragic death of a 6 months old child in Delhi.

The Hindu reported that, the kid was mistakenly wrapped into the bundle of cloths when its parents were hurriedly evacuating their home for a demolition drive ordered by the railway authorities in West Delhi’s Shakur Basti.

Even though the hard steps of the officials were condemned by the Delhi CM by suspending the authorities, the railway authorities in a statement said the child’s death was not related to the demolition.

Then, How?

The parents wrapped their kid in the bundle of cloths to play hide and seek with it??

Have the officials kept the people informed about the demolition? Yes says the officials.

"In the last nine months, three notices had been issued to encroachers to vacate railway land. The first one was issued in March. The second notice directed them to vacate by September 30, but they did not do so. The last notice asked them to vacate by December 12"

May be the parents, on their urge to pack things up, failed to notice their kid crawled to a different place or may be something else happened… Only an enquiry would reveal the truth. Nevertheless! An infant have breathed its last! Leaving an incurable hurt for its parents... :( :(

Now! Being a Chennaite... My thought goes with the encroachment clearance which is planned for
Chennai....

I would like to narrate a story which happened exactly 13 years back.

It was a monsoon season, Porur lake got filled due to incessant rain in the season and water released out of the lake went into the nearby residents (Madha Nagar, Movlivakkam, Porur etcs..). There were knee level water on the roads, but apart from few huts which were constructed in the ground level, no other residents got water into their home.

It was the same ADMK government in power, by then. There were serious allegations raised against the government regarding the encroachments made in the channel, which is supposed to take the excess water to the nearby Adyar river.

I was in my +2 at that time. One of my class mate came to my home and said the government officials were demolishing his home saying it was constructed in the channel without approval and their family is on the roads.

Shocked by hearing this, I went with him to see the place. I still remember the agony and pain of my friend’s family. His father was a mason and a very hard working man too. He with his limited daily income, saved money and constructed the house himself. I even remember my friend once saying to me proudly that his father himself constructed his house.They were not having electricity till he was in his 10th. The reason he would say is the authorities were asking for 3K to provide the EB connection. Later his father managed to get the EB connection as well. 

If the land was an un-authorized one, how the EB connection came? No words from the authorities for this...

I saw his father standing there watching his own house demolished by JCP.

At that time, the priority for the government is to clear the encroachments and show to public that it has cleared them with iron hands.

Yes! It was a deadly iron hand, which came as a blow to my friends family which lead his father paralyzed in few months and he passed away after a year.

Obviously! The government would say that it or the demolition drive it conducted is not responsible for my friend losing his father.

But, no one knew the impact, the incident created in his life. Despite being a topper in studies, he was not able to score good marks in that year's public exam. Despite getting a seat in a private engineering college through a kind hearted well-wisher, he was not able to continue his studies, as his father was paralyzed by that time.

Not only his life. Like him, we have lakhs and lakhs of people living in unauthorized land either as encroachment or as slum dwellers.

Now in Chennai! We are even talking about restoring the water ways and marsh lands which were now become approved plots, IT parks and residential area by the government.

I can see some politicians now making statements to clear the water ways by removing the encroachment with iron hand. 

Again!!!! :( :(

The question comes to my mind is... How many such family is going to bear the brunt now?

Do we think a notice by the authority is enough for demolishing a house?

Almost for all of them, the only earnings they have for their life would be their home and nothing else. If we take a survey of all of our people, those who have investment and account balance to protect their financial loss can be counted in fingers.

Now tell me! Do we really need an IRON HAND to clear the encroachments or a responsible sequential process to restore the water ways through various steps of rehabilitation?

My Chennai

It was 8:30 in the night yesterday!

Me and my wife were watching TV. After browsing few channels, I landed up in "Kiran TV", it was "Theivathirumagal".

"I love this movie", I said...

"Please change.. I cant cry seeing this now... ", said my wife..

"Ok! Lets check the flood situation.... ", I changed the channel to a news channel...

'18 ICU patients died due to Oxygen cut off in Nandambakkam MIOT' - came the news.......

We switched off the TV!

Despite knowing my family is safe there... I dint get sleep...

My Chennai!!!! I will not curse you for your 44 degree hot sun anymore...

Please heat up! Save us!!!! :(

P.S: Guys please don't hit like to this....