Chennai Floods: What it's really like to deliver aid in a disaster zone

It's Monday and Chennai is once again bustling with energy. At first glance, except for a few puddles and stray heaps of mangled debris along the roadside, there are few indications of a city that has lost more than 270 lives in the floods last week. However, the reality is starkly different.

As one moves away from the main roads into the bylanes of Chennai, a contrasting image emerges. Lorries and SUVs unabashedly plastered with Amma stickers ply the narrow streets of the worst affected areas carrying food and water. "The people don't care so much for food anymore. There are so many groups providing food. Yesterday, we took two food varieties - chappati kurma and lemon rice. People preferred the chappati kurma - it's tastier than the rather dry lemon rice. They've started developing preferences as there is surplus," says Natraj an organising member of a civilian relief camp at Lalit Mahal in Mandavelli, Chennai. Relief centre co-ordinators and field-workers alike have acknowledged that there is enough food and water to go around now. 

Who really needs aid?

Though the Tamil Nadu government was a full 48 hours late in beginning to provide rescue and relief, they've certainly played catch up and are now doing a commendable job providing sustenance aid for the worst affected areas. But helping the worst affected areas is just the tip of the iceberg - these areas are also those with the highest visibility and subsequently receive the most amount of aid. There are several neighbourhoods in and around Chennai that have lost everything, but haven't been able to receive aid because their neighbourhoods technically don't fall under the 'worst affected areas' category.

On the ground, there seems to be a sense of pride amongst volunteers, both civilian and government, in being able to offer help to the 'people who need it the most'. And for some reason, this measure seems to be inferred by the levels of water stagnation that each area was subject to. In reality, whether water levels were 4ft or 12ft, the tragedy of a submerged home is just that. 

The need of the hour

The real need of the hour for people who've lost everything seems to be basics like blankets, floor mats, pillows, mosquito coils, hygiene products and basic provisions. "My mother is sitting on the streets. There is absolutely nothing except the roof and the floor remaining in what used to be our home. The walls have been washed away. It's the home I grew up in. We've lost everything we've ever owned," says a tearful Kanniamma, whose family lives in Jafferkhanpet. Kanniamma isn't alone. There are several lakhs of people in Chennai who've lost all their life's savings and possessions and have to start afresh.

Information economy and the Chennai floods

Over the last six days, a highly complex but workable information web emerged in Chennai. As most of the city quickly lost electricity and telephone connectivity to the torrential rains, it was almost impossible to identify the areas that were at risk of being submerged and needed help. With very little TV coverage and a tight-lipped government, it was up to the common man to organise the first-response rescue efforts. Chennaivasis who still had power and internet transformed into digital volunteers, not sleeping a wink through several nights. Powered by the deluge of information collated through word-of-mouth, on-ground reports from rescue volunteers and SOS messages on social media from their loved ones all over the world, a pattern of the most affected neighbourhoods in Chennai emerged. The twitter hashtags #chennairainshelp #chennairains #chennaifloods and #verified became the lifeline of the entire civilian rescue operation. Vithun Ravindhran, a digital information volunteer says, "I've hardly slept for a few hours in the last six days. But the very thought that my updates could save someone's life on the ground keeps me going. The group effort of Chennai's volunteers has managed to save the lives of thousands. I'll only stop when no one's life is in danger anymore," he says. 

Related Read - Chennai floods: Here are some tips for volunteers working on the ground

The challenges of delivering aid in a disaster zone

While there has been an outpouring of aid from people all over the world, the unsettling truth of the hour is that it is an impossible task to provide aid to a population of over 4.5 million people solely through private donations. "Yesterday we almost got mob-lynched by 300 aggressive people who isolated, surrounded and violently banged on our cars as they spotted blankets being stacked up inside the car. It was the scariest experience of my life. We had to return without distributing the supplies as they'd have surely broken into the car and beaten us up if we had stayed there any longer. Our fellow-volunteers who are professional body-builders had to push away the people so that the car could move out of the narrow street. It only goes to demonstrate the level of desperation and dire need that the people are in," says Srisai Sivakumar, an on-ground volunteer.

This is not an isolated incident, Sam Paul, another volunteer who spearheaded massive relief works in Chennai, made a post on his Facebook wall warning volunteers not to go into affected areas without the support of the local leader or strongman. Other volunteers have said that the Chennai city police have been of massive help in accompanying civilian volunteers and helping them distribute aid. The reality of the situation is that there just isn't enough aid available. Distributing limited aid in one of the most densely populated cities in the world, unfortunately means that the fittest victim will receive the most.  

Relief material packed for distribution. Photo credit: Aarti Krishnakumar

Moving from relief to rehabilitation

Big FM's RJ Balaji another volunteer who used his celebrity status to bring together a big volunteer group, put out a video yesterday saying that they were going to stop all the relief efforts starting Monday, 7 December. "We did whatever little we could in the last five days. All of this has only been immediate relief. But long-term relief for the affected people cannot be attained just by giving them a packet of biscuit, milk or water. In order to take this relief work to the next level, it has to turn into rehabilitation work."

With the water-levels receding and Chennai returning to business-as-usual, the affected people are now grappling with the reality of having to rebuild their lives from scratch. Donations and aid have begun dwindling down and most volunteers have returned to their day jobs today. Chennai is slowly emerging from the worst flooding it has seen in a century - but the big question looming over everyone's heads is this - What is the real function of a state government that meticulously kept its money-churning liquor shops open throughout the deluge, but failed miserably in organising rescue and relief for a full 48 hours? 

The author is a Communications Specialist who was born and raised in Chennai. She volunteered as a digital and on-ground volunteer during the Chennai floods.

Also Read: Notes from the Chennai Floods: Better off than most