BBC News:
Seven years after devastating floods killed more than 400 people in the southern Indian city of Chennai, the region is witnessing severe rains that are becoming harder to predict. BBC Tamil’s K Subagunam finds out if the city is equipped to deal with the impact of changing weather patterns.
Schools and colleges have been shut in Chennai for the second time in November after heavy rains lashed the city on Friday.
Videos showed people wading through muddy waters which flooded the streets and residential areas of the coastal city of 12 million people.
Authorities are on high alert as more heavy rains are expected in the coming days.
The deluge comes just 10 days after the city recorded its heaviest rainfall in more than 30 years on 1 November.
At least 26 people have died in rain-related incidents since 31 October.
Experts say the rains have not only become more frequent but also more unpredictable, making it hard for authorities to respond rapidly.
“No one could have predicted that the city would receive 140mm of rainfall in 24 hours right at the onset of the monsoon season earlier this month,” says Dr S Janakarajan, the president of South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies.
“It was an unexpected weather event where forecasts changed from morning to evening.”
The state authorities tried to control the situation by bringing out motor pumps to clear waterlogged areas and sending its relief teams to flood-affected neighbourhoods.
But as sea levels rise and heat waves intensify, experts say the city will need to do a lot more to mitigate the impact of extreme weather conditions in the future and to avoid a repeat of the deadly floods in 2015.
“The fact that water entered people’s homes at the very beginning of the monsoon season shows just how unprepared Chennai is this time,” says SA Haris Sultan, a member of anti-corruption watchdog Arappor Iyakkam based in the city.
