Comments
As Chennai’s residents recover from the flooding over the last two weeks, many find that they have to start from scratch. Being displaced during the floods was a tragedy, but now they brave the next phase – rebuilding their lives.
Entire homes and belongings have been washed away or destroyed in the floods. In T Nagar, in the heart of the city, one of the biggest residential and business hubs, hotels and jewellery shops are closed for maintenance work. Residents are salvaging their belongings.
Mayura’s house was inundated due to the recent flood. The water has now receded but the house is not liveable yet as the flooring is damaged and electrical and electronic equipment damaged beyond repair and furnishing broken.
“We have to buy our essential electronic from fridge, television and repair the damaged flooring which would cost us more than ₹1 lakh,” she said. They will have to delve into their savings and borrow money to start again.
Even as Chennai is getting back on its feet, the citizens are getting ready to face the economic cost associated with the floods.
S Krishnaveni, a maid living in Thoraipakkam, is planning to move permanently to her hometown. “Our house is under water and there is nothing I can salvage. We will sell the plot and go settle down in Sivakasi,” she said.
Nisha V, software engineer residing in Thoraipakkam, said since the area does not have a proper drainage system, sewage has mixed with well water. “We need to spend around ₹7,500 to pump out the dirty water. There are more than 50 houses in the area with the same problem,she added.
Mahesh Vannan, cab driver living in Anakaputur, said he had lost ₹70,000 worth of properties because of the flood. “We had to pool money to buy food as we did not get any help from outside,” he said.
Even the hoteliers are facing the consequences of the flood as they have to shutdown for a short period. Residency Towers, a hotel in Chennai, has been closed for maintenance. Water had flooded the basement which served as a garage and housed gensets. “We are pumping water out of the basement. Our gensets were damaged as well,” said a company spokesperson.
The hotel will be open for business from December 20.
Kalyan Jewellers plans to reopen from tomorrow.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.