Chennai: The Controller and Auditor General of India said that the July 9, 2015 flood that ravaged Chennai was a man-made as against the popular belief that it was a natural one. The CAG has blamed the AIADMK government for the disaster. According to the Tamil Nadu government 470 people had died between October and December due to floods. J Jayalalithaa, who was the then chief minister of the state, in a statement had said that the unprecedented rains was the cause for the deluge and also the huge damage in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts.
However, the CAG report that was released in 2016, has another narrative. The audit body has rebuked the state government and called a "man-made" disaster. After continuous pressure put by the Opposition parties in the state, the TN government tabled the CAG report on July 9, the last day of the assembly session. "This is a 2015 report based on the experience we had in 2015, when there was heavy rain; in 2016 and 2017 the occurrence was controlled," fisheries minister D Jayakumar said. In 2016 and 2017 too many regions in Chennai and neighbouring districts faced heavy flooding.
Jayakumar said that the concerned departments will reply to the CAG report. The report points at faults with the government especially with the water resources department being blamed the most. The report states that water from Chembarambakkam reservoir was released in excess and caused the over flowing of the Adayar river, which flows through Chennai. The audit body said that the water resource department did not follow the Central Water Commission (CWC) norms to release the water from the reservoir. According to CAG, discharge of water could have been maintained at 12,000 cusecs for another six hours but the water was released in an indiscriminate manner. The continuous release of 29,000 cusecs water over 21 hours into the Adyar river was seen as the main reason for the flooding.
"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," read the report.
