The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has criticised the Tamil Nadu government’s handling of the floods in Chennai in 2015, calling it a “man-made disaster”, The Hindu reported. The audit agency held the government responsible for the scale of the disaster. The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government tabled the report – titled Flood management and response in Chennai and its suburban areas – in the Assembly on Monday. The Comptroller and Auditor General had submitted the report to the government in March 2016. The Opposition had raised the matter in the Assembly during the last budget session and asked the government to present the report in the House. The report said indiscriminate discharge of water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir had burdened the Adyar river and caused the flooding in the city and its suburbs. The water resources department had claimed that it had a supervision mechanism in place but the audit agency said no record was made available of any communications between the official in-charge of the reservoir and the government officials. The report said that even if the chief engineer had supervised the discharge of water from the reservoir – as claimed by the water resources department – the actual inflow and outflow were not regulated according to Central Water Commission guidelines. The Comptroller and Auditor General also accused the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority of failing to check large-scale construction along waterways and the illegal conversion of agricultural land and water bodies, PTI reported. The constructions choked waterways and altered land uses in the metropolitan area, the audit agency said. “Allowing conversion of agricultural land without government approval and unauthorised conversion of water bodies, non-urban and Open Space and Recreation land for various other purposes resulted in drastic changes in land use and thereby contributed to the floods,” it added. The audit agency also pointed out that the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority had not met even once since it was formed in November 2013. The floods had claimed 289 lives, submerged 23.25 lakh homes, disrupted power and telecommunication services, caused extensive damage to public and private property and brought the city to a standstill for several days.<doc-sep>In 2015, the people of Tamil Nadu witnessed one of the worst tragedies of their lives, standing on the roofs of their houses waiting for food and rescue teams, people in Chennai had a near-death experience. Three years later in 2018, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that was tabled in Tamil Nadu Assembly on July 9, states that the disaster, which many have been made to believe was a natural calamity, was in fact a man-made disaster. The report squarely pins the blame on the AIADMK government for the disaster for not following the recommendations on emergency situations. According to the Tamil Nadu government, 470 people died between October and December, 2015, due to the floods. J Jayalalithaa, who was then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, in a detailed statement had said that the unprecedented rains witnessed in parts of the state was the cause of the deluge and also the huge damage in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts. The CAG report, which had been released in 2016, challenges Jayalalithaa's narrative. The report makes strong remarks against the state government over the way in which the 2015 Chennai floods were handled and goes on to call it a 'man-made' disaster. In the face of sustained pressure from Opposition parties, the Tamil Nadu government was forced to table the report in the Assembly on July 9, the last day of the session. Playing down the report, fisheries minister D Jayakumar said, "It is a 2015 report based on the experience we had in that year. While there was heavy rain in 2016 and 2017 too, the occurrence was controlled." What Jayakumar seems to have missed is that even in 2016 and 2017 many regions in Chennai became victims of heavy flooding. "Those were only minor floodings," said Jayakumar, adding that the concerned departments will reply to the CAG report. The report has pointed to grave problems in the functioning of the water resources department that led to the tragedy. The report states that excess water was released from the Chembarambakkam reservoir and this led to the overflowing of the Adyar river. The report points out that the water resources department did not follow the Central Water Commission (CWC) norms on releasing water from the reservoir and states that the discharge of water could have been maintained at 12,000 cusecs for another six hours but the water was released in an indiscriminate manner to save the patta lands in the foreshore area. And the continuous 21 hours of release of 29,000 cusecs water to the Adyar river was seen as the main reason for the flooding. "Chembarambakkam tank despite being a major tank did not have any scientific inflow forecast system and lacked a mechanism for real-time flood forecast which was not in accordance with the CWC norms for dams' safety procedure and reservoir regulation schedules. The government of Tamil Nadu failed not only to create new reservoirs and check dams to mitigate the flood hazards due to monsoon rains but also did not take any action to divert flood water from Adyar river despite recommendation by nucleus cell and expert committee resulting in inundation due to floods in 2015 December rains," read the report. Shockingly, the water resources department did not even have a Compendium of Rules of Regulations (COR) for Chembarambakkam reservoir. The compendium lapsed 23 years back. In 2005 too, a major flood had hit Chennai and its neighbouring districts and even after that an emergency action plan was not set up by the government. The lack of government initiatives to keep its systems in check and rules and regulations in place have also been highlighted in the CAG report. "We are not surprised with the CAG report. We have for long maintained that the government's environmental policy is detrimental to the interests of the state. This government is keen on filling its coffers. The way it handled inflow and outflow of water was done in an indiscriminate manner," said DMK spokesperson R Kannan. We saw the same mismanagement of affairs in 2016 and 2017. In 2017, the state government was caught trying to remove encroachments when the parts of the state were already flooded. In the context of the 2015 report, the CAG notes, "All factors put together indicate that it was a man-made disaster and unless the government of Tamil Nadu takes full charge of mitigating the contributing factors leading to December 2015 floods another disaster cannot be ruled out." Experience shows no lessons have been learnt from all the tragedies faced. But the big question is — will the government act now? Seeing the way in which ministers are trying to dismiss the report, there is little hope. Also read: World Population Day: Why India feels its women should bear the burden of family planning<doc-sep>CAG report slams Chennai administration for 2015 floods, says govt was unprepared The report placed a major portion of the blame on Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority for allowing encroachments on the cityâ€™s water bodies. news Chennai Floods The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said that the 2015 Chennai floods that caused huge loss of men and material were man-made and the government was simply not prepared to meet the contingency. The report, tabled in the Assembly on Monday, came down heavily on the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) for permitting encroachment on water bodies, reported the Times of India. The buildings that were built on water bodies includes CMDAâ€™s own buildings. It also criticised CMDAâ€™s second master plan for not demarcating the floodplains to allow constructions along the waterways. The report also mentions the release of water from Chembarambakkam reservoir into the Adyar river, which is alleged to be the cause of flash floods in the wee hours of December 1, 2015. The report stated that the outflow was more than the inflow in Chembarambakkam reservoir and that water was never stored up to the full limit of the reservoir. â€œThe government had an opportunity to store 0.268 tmc in the Chembarambakkam tank and 12,000 cusecs of discharge could have been maintained for six hours instead of releasing 20,960 to 29,000 cusecs, the report said, blaming the then Jayalalithaa administration. The report also calls out the inaction of the State Disaster Management Authority which did not meet even once since its formation in 2013, the ToI report states. Calling out the Tamil Nadu government for not giving due importance to de-silting of waterways, the report said that in 2014 and 2015, de-silting was not started before monsoon due to delay in the release of funds. The CAG also put forth recommendations to prevent such situations from occurring in the future. Some of the recommendations include enacting laws to minimise the effects of construction on floodplains and to coordinate with other departments to remove encroachments along the cityâ€™s waterways. Chennai received unprecedented rainfall in December 2015 leading to major floods which threw the city out of gear. Around 300 people lost their lives to the floods, despite lack of clarity over the figures. Economic losses were pegged at around $2.2 billion, as per an international study.<doc-sep>
Auditor’s report says indiscriminate discharge of water from Chembarambakkam lake burdened the Adyar river The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has been scathing in its criticism of the government’s handling of the Chennai floods of 2015, going so far as to categorise it as a “man- made disaster”. It has held the government of Tamil Nadu responsible for the scale of the catastrophe, which the latter had termed a “natural disaster”. The CAG report, ‘Flood management and response in Chennai and its suburban areas’, was tabled by the AIADMK government on Monday. Though the report was submitted to the government in March 2016, it was not tabled, and the opposition had raised the issue in the Assembly during the last budget session. Tabled in the Assembly during the last day of the session, the report has found fault with the government on many counts, with the Water Resources Department (WRD) drawing the maximum flak. The report said that there was indiscriminate discharge of water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir, in excess of inflows, which burdened the Adyar river, leading to floods in the city and its suburbs.' The WRD had claimed that a supervision mechanism was in place but the CAG report said that no record was made available on any communications between the Section Officer (in-charge of the tank) with departmental/government officials. Even if there was communication with the Chief Engineer as claimed by the WRD, the fact remains that the actual inflow and outflow was not regulated as per Central Water Commission (CWC) norms, the report charged. The WRD had the opportunity to store 0.268 thousand million cubic feet (tmc) more at the tank where the storage stood at 3.377 tmc on December 1, 2015 at 2 pm when the discharge was increased from 12,000 cusecs to 20,960 cusecs. The CAG was of the view that the discharge could have been maintained at 12,000 cusecs for another six hours. The indiscriminate discharge was done to save patta land allowed in the foreshore area from submergence. “This action by the SO and WRD warrants detailed enquiry,” the CAG report said. The discharge of water at 29,000 cusecs continuously for 21 hours on December 1 and 2 into the Adyar river, coupled with surplus water from upstream tanks and catchment areas, caused a huge flow of flood waters into the river. The CAG also charged the WRD with not taking up desiltation of the river. Rules not revised Also, despite CWC guidelines, the Compendium of Rules of Regulations (COR) for Chembarambakkam tank was not revised by the WRD taking into account the regulated discharge of surplus water and enhancement of the height of the tank to 24 feet. In the absence of an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) and due to the government’s failure to update its system / manuals as per CWC guidelines, the water was released in an unsustained manner. The outflow of water was more than the inflow into the tank for 13 hours, in contravention of the CWC guidelines for dam safety, resulting in increased flow of water to the already swollen Adyar river. The government replied in March 2017 that the water release was based on COR, and added that formulation of an EAP was under progress. The CAG, however, said that the reply was not tenable as WRD failed to revise the compendium even after a lapse of 23 years from the date of installation of a regulated arrangement at the tank, and no lessons were learnt from the damage to life and property in the 2005 floods.