DMK, AIADMK spar over who is to blame for 2015 floods ‘CAG Said 2015 Flood, A Man-made’

DMK, AIADMK spar over who is to blame for 2015 floods ‘CAG Said 2015 Flood, A Man-made’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK  11.12.2024 

Chennai : The Chembarambakkam fiasco continued to haunt AIADMK nine years after the disastrous 2015 floods that ravaged Chennai. DMK and AIADMK locked horns in the state assembly on Tuesday over the issue of water release from the lake and consequent flooding. While chief minister M K Stalin and other ministers said floods in 2015 were caused by unannounced water release from Chembarambakkam lake, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami argued Adyar river had more carrying capacity than what was released from Chembarambakkam Lake.

“Water was released from Chembarambakkam lake without prior intimation, leading to the death of more than 250 people. Even the CAG report tabled in 2018 made it clear that it was aman-made disaster. There was a problem in seeking permission to open the dam on time, and as the permission could not be obtained, the dam was opened without prior intimation,” Stalin said. 

Palaniswami responded, saying Chembarambakkam lake was constructed for drinking water purposes and only a total of 29,000 cusecs were released from the lake that day. As the total carrying capacity of Adyar river was one lakh cusecs, the release of water at 29,000 cusecs from the lake did not cause flooding. Excess water from more than 100 lakes downstream of Chembarambakkam lake flowed in to Adyar river and resulted in the flooding, said Palaniswami. “Opening of Chembarambakkam lake did not result in flooding in Adyar River. It was the excess rain that resulted in lakes getting filled up quickly, resulting in flooding in Adyar river,” said Palaniswami. 

Health minister Ma Subramanian said the carrying capacity of the river was not one lakh cusecs. “I still reside by the side of Adyar river, and if water is released at 10,000 to 15,000 cusecs there will be flooding in the river,” Subramanian said. He also issued a challenge to Palaniswami, asking him to bring experts from IIT Madras to check the capacity of Adyar river. HR and CE minister P K Sekarbabu argued Chennai had seen severe rainfall in the last 45 years, but never before was the death toll so high as in 2015.