Chennai’s water risk differential: Report
The report titled ‘Climate Change and Water Risk - A Strategy and Action Plan for Chennai’ revealed that Chennai has differential water risk across localities and communities due to climate change
Representative image
CHENNAI: A survey by Care Earth Trust has revealed that Chennai has differential water risk across localities and communities due to climate change, and has recommended the government to formulate ground-level responses to disasters.
The survey report, ‘Climate Change and Water Risk - A Strategy and Action Plan for Chennai’, released on Thursday, said water risk is understood differently by communities on the ground. “While water-logging and access to water are primary risks in Kalkuttai (near Perungudi) and Washermanpet, erosion and cyclones pose risk in Pattinapakkam, and heat waves in radial houses (in Anna Nagar extension). None of these areas identified other factors as a risk,” it said.
However, all the locations have a common problem of access to basic services such as clean water, ventilated buildings and public spaces with greenery. Each of the localities is situated next to more affluent parts of the city.
“A key reason why this is linked to adaptation is because people are forced to spend more and often disproportionately on basic services which decreases their savings and social safety nets,” it said.
Residents of Kalkuttai and Washermanpet are spending more on sandbags and raising the level of houses and that of radial houses on electricity and cooling. Across the neighbourhoods, people mentioned trying methods like painting for cool roofs.
The report pointed out that during floods, Kalkuttai residents could temporarily move to higher ground in Velachery, which gave way to MRTS Station and warehouses by 2005 and is no longer an available option. “Newer areas are getting flooded and the reasons for this trend is not being examined in detail. This could also mean that disaster mitigation in these areas is unreliable,” the report opined.
The report recommended that local perspectives and knowledge of the citizens need to be heard. “Climate literacy needs calibration. Seemingly unconnected sectors such as the SMEs, MSMEs and urban biodiversity also have a strong potential to address the link. The insights and learnings from the grassroots have been valuable, and it is hoped that ‘ground-up responses’ becomes the norm,” the report added.