Chennai Floods – 2023 vs. 2015

In December 2023,, Chennai experienced major floods caused by Cyclone Michaung, which brought heavy rainfall and strong winds, leading to severe flooding in the city. Over 34 cm of rainfall inundated the city within 48 hours (December 4 th and 5 th ), causing extensive damage and disrupting  almost all public services. This reminded us of a similar event in 2015 when the rainfall was lesser at 29 cms spread over 3 days (November 30 th to December 2 nd ) but yet it led to many more deaths and many other problems. For us in Bala Mandir, the 2015 flood was a major turning point in our history, and it is hence worth talking about it.

The best way to remember the 2015 flood is to watch the Times Now prime time news video which featured Bala Mandir… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFbksjoUjg .

The year 2023 flooding in terms of water level was not different from the 2015 water level. However, unlike in 2015, we could pump out the water within a day of the rains stopping while in 2015 Bala Mandir remained submerged for almost a week. I recall working with my classmate from school M. Ravi, who is a leading Engineering and Project Management consultant and a civil engineer by profession to try and pump out the water and set things in order. That was the starting of our involvement with Bala Mandir infrastructure improvement. To date Ravi continues to be associated with all the Bala Mandir projects and now he has become a member of the Bala Mandir General Body.

The 2015 floods opened our eyes to the weak infrastructure of Bala Mandir, and we launched the ‘Rebuilding project’ which went on for more than two years after the event. The project was broken up into many smaller sub-projects including complete revamp of the electrical system, installing new DG sets, complete revamping of the sewage lines, storm water collection and pumping arrangements, compound wall repair, improvement of the buildings one by one to reduce leakage /seepage, school ground level correction, raising the flooring in the kitchen, the dining area and the school, plinth protection for all the buildings, mosquito nets, paving of the internal roads, etc. We made a widespread appeal for funding and many people and organisations responded positively and contributed to the project which has made Bala Mandir what it is today.

This Rebuilding project enabled us to face the 2023 floods with confidence and we could recover quickly after the rains stopped. While most of Chennai was without power, our children did not lose power since the DG sets were in place and had been installed at a height. We were well prepared in every way and storm water drain improvement which happened around our area ensured that there was also no continuing flooding in our neighbourhood after the rains stopped.

We lost many trees in 2015 and also in the Vardah cyclone of 2016. Since then, we had replanted hundreds of trees in Bala Mandir. In the 2023 floods, we once against lost  two very large trees and many smaller trees. One of these was at the entrance of the Satyamurthi School and the other one was in the Vidyalaya playground. This loss was really tragic since the tree looked very green  and healthy ,even though it was probably over a 100 years old. An elderly man in his 70s who lives in the house opposite the Gurudwara recalled about how, as a young boy, he used to climb the tree and play with his friends. The storm water drain work had probably damaged the trees roots on one side and it could not withstand the fury of Michaung. Talking about what stays in memory, it was interesting that none of the current Bala Mandir children, to whom I spoke, remembered anything about the 2015 floods. I then realised that the current Standard X children must have been in Standard II and they would have been taken to the first floor and kept in a safe place and entertained with games and other fun things while the elders were battling the floods outside and arranging for their food, etc. I guess that week in 2015 was a normal one for these children, while it was such a major historical event for many of us.