T.M. Krishna has written an op-ed piece on Chennai rains and its aftermath in today's edition of Indian Express.
I have been in Chennai for the past two weeks. As my train entered North Chennai I could see the houses were still waddling in rain water-sewage water mix. The South Chennai where my parents live does not have any stagnant pool of water because the corporation laid down the storm water drain couple of years back, which despite its extremely poor quality did manage to do a reasonable job. My Uncle told us that their locality was filled with water though their building escaped that fate due to the rain water harvesting system that they had laid down.
Now that the water has receded, we can see the extensive damage down to the roads. Parts of roads have caved in. Walking to Luz corner one day to get medicines for my mother, I saw that a section of Sivasami Salai had been closed as part of the road had caved in. Roads are, in fact, truly artistic, telling the story of shoddy work done over the years. Poor quality bitumen (or water-soluble bitumen as my father says), improper laying of the road, patchwork repair done on roads have all taken a toll.
I did suggest to my brother that we should hold a contest for the most artistic road in the city. Funds are pouring in but the saddest part is that the same kind of poor quality roads will be once again laid down.
The water quality is abysmal. It never was good. When the rains failed to come in the past years, the residents used to get water with algae floating in it. The filter in the water purifier system had to be cleaned every few days as it would get clogged. In desperation, my father learned how to dismantle and clean the water purifier filter. When he fell ill, I told my mother to boil the filtered water. After the rains this year, we have no idea what we are getting. In many areas since the drinking water is mixed with sewage.
There is enough propaganda. Whatsapp is being used to tell the citizens of the good work done by the government. Money has poured in. But life goes on for no one really cares. We do not really care about public good. After all people can be fooled all the time.
I have been in Chennai for the past two weeks. As my train entered North Chennai I could see the houses were still waddling in rain water-sewage water mix. The South Chennai where my parents live does not have any stagnant pool of water because the corporation laid down the storm water drain couple of years back, which despite its extremely poor quality did manage to do a reasonable job. My Uncle told us that their locality was filled with water though their building escaped that fate due to the rain water harvesting system that they had laid down.
Now that the water has receded, we can see the extensive damage down to the roads. Parts of roads have caved in. Walking to Luz corner one day to get medicines for my mother, I saw that a section of Sivasami Salai had been closed as part of the road had caved in. Roads are, in fact, truly artistic, telling the story of shoddy work done over the years. Poor quality bitumen (or water-soluble bitumen as my father says), improper laying of the road, patchwork repair done on roads have all taken a toll.
I did suggest to my brother that we should hold a contest for the most artistic road in the city. Funds are pouring in but the saddest part is that the same kind of poor quality roads will be once again laid down.
The water quality is abysmal. It never was good. When the rains failed to come in the past years, the residents used to get water with algae floating in it. The filter in the water purifier system had to be cleaned every few days as it would get clogged. In desperation, my father learned how to dismantle and clean the water purifier filter. When he fell ill, I told my mother to boil the filtered water. After the rains this year, we have no idea what we are getting. In many areas since the drinking water is mixed with sewage.
There is enough propaganda. Whatsapp is being used to tell the citizens of the good work done by the government. Money has poured in. But life goes on for no one really cares. We do not really care about public good. After all people can be fooled all the time.
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