LESSON FROM CHENNAI: GIVE BACK FLOOD PLAINS TO RIVERS

THE resilience of a city is gauged by its ability to bounce back quickly after a calamity. Chennai is back on its feet after the devastating cyclonic storm wreaked unparalleled havoc on it. But it still limps when it comes to evacuating people thousands of them are still marooned by flood waters. However, the government's coordinating efforts in distributing food to the stranded and restoring electricity and telecom lines are laudable. Most importantly, fatalities are far fewer than in the 2015 floods.

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Past floods have left a trail of destruction along the waterways of Adyar, Cooum, Kosasthalaiyar, Buckingham Canal and Pallikaranai Marshland. After the 2015 floods, the stormwater drainage system in the city was enhanced with financial support from the World Bank and connected to the Adyar, Cooum, and Kosasthalaiyar rivers, which ultimately empty into the bay. But they obviously cannot take in vast amounts of flood waters when the skies abruptly open up. Worse, their capacity has been compromised by fast-unfolding urbanisation. Indiscriminate construction