Eight years after inception, Makkal Medai looks to empower Chennai residents against disasters

Citizen Platform Makkal Medai aims to empower people to address disaster reduction in Chennai. Meetings to discuss urban growth, waterlogging & more on Dec 30.

Eight years after its conception and first discussion on steps to mitigate floods in the city, Makkal Medai aka Citizen Platform has once again gained prominence, and this time, it aims to empower people to take matters into their own hands.

The platform took shape after local welfare associations and activists pushed for an urgent need to address disaster reduction in the city. Meetings were held in 2016, with active participation from all age groups, but interest soon fizzled out, the organisers said.

Now, a meeting has been scheduled for Saturday (December 30), which is a follow-up to a virtual discussion held on December 12. The upcoming meeting will be held on the premises of Arappor Iyakkam, a non-profit organisation led by its co-founder Jayaram Venkatesan, in Nungambakkam from 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.

The focus will be to holistically look at the unrelenting urban growth, unmonitored industrial expansion, and poorly planned civic works in the city, according to V. Suresh, the national general secretary of the People’s Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL).

An activist for 40 years, Mr. Suresh said the primary topic of discussion would be inundation-prone areas and the level of waterlogging. The conversation will shed light on reasons behind water stagnation and will include comparisons between Royapettah and Royapuram. A discussion on roads and their heights, as well as the unchecked illegal construction that took place between 2015 and 2023, will take place.

The discussions will include data collected by several volunteers from various groups, including Arappor Iyakkam, during a field study in several of the areas of the city worst affected by waterlogging. “As many as 15 interested individuals joined us during the virtual meeting, and we expect more participation in the upcoming sessions,” he added.

The previous session, held in December 2015, post-flood, focussed on how citizens directly or indirectly benefitted from economies that fuel ‘destructive’ urban growth, the key lessons from the rain and measures to avoid becoming victims of such extreme climate events again. Following this, a ‘Citizen Manifesto’ was prepared with inputs from nearly 400 people, which contained key demands.