CHENNAI: In a bid to protect the city from the impact of climate-related disasters like floods, cyclones, heat waves and droughts, the city Municipal Corporation, in association with the University of Madras and Kyoto University of Japan, has formulated a ‘Climate Action Plan’ for Chennai. The plan proposes a series of actions to be undertaken by various government authorities, public and private agencies and individuals to boost the resilience of the city towards climate-related disasters. The action plan that was developed and tabled in December last year is now on the verge of being implemented with the city corporation having chosen two wards to conduct the pilot study.“Ward 131 Kodambakkam South and Ward 79 Adhikesavapuram have been chosen for the pilot study to be carried out,” says RR Krishnamurthy of the Department for Applied Geology of Madras University, who has been coordinating the entire programme between the agencies. Nine hundred people have been surveyed in these areas on various aspects, including their socio-economic backgrounds and disaster preparedness in the region. The authorities are in the process of collating this information and analysing it, which will happen in another month’s time. Meanwhile, the city Corporation will hold a public consultation and a stakeholders’ meeting in August to carry the programme forward with the participation of the local public. “Key stakeholders like the Corporation itself, the Public Works Department, the Electricity Board and Ward councilors or representatives will participate in the meeting to define the implementation process of this plan,” Krishnamurthy said.The Climate Action Plan focuses on non-structural adaptation measures which are feasible and do not require large funds to be implemented. “Although effects of climate change like more frequent and more severe natural hazards are not yet significant in this region, an expected increase is likely to have dramatic consequence on Chennai because of its low lying exposition, with the city being just a few metres above sea level,” notes the action plan. The climate action plan was prepared based on the results of a Comprehensive Disaster Risk Index Mapping study carried out earlier. According to this study, the overall resilience of the city varied from zone to zone with areas in northern Chennai like Tondiarpet and Basin Bridge having lowest resilience, while Kodambakkam, Anna Nagar, and Adyar had the highest.The plan recommends simple steps like development of a pre-disaster map indicating roads that are vulnerable to water logging, strict enforcement of building permits for all types of hazards for new buildings being constructed, conducting disaster drills at ward level at least once a year, creation of an evacuation plan at the community level and providing insurance schemes for all houses from disasters as effective measures in minimising the climate-related disasters. Measures like effective waste management, planning of urban land use, provisioning green lung space through stricter enforcement of Development Control Rules and provisioning of budgets for disaster reduction activities are advised as immediate measures to be adopted in the next two years. In the longer run, the plan suggests promotion of alternative sources of energy and commissioning of ecosystem services as measures to make Chennai disaster resilient.
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