Unlike the snow-fed big rivers of north India, which originate from the foothills of the lofty Himalayan ranges––most of them across the international border––Adyar and Cooum, whose water have wreaked havoc in Chennai can, at best, be called rain-fed small rivers.

In Chennai one can not blame Nepal or China––as we often do for any such tragedy in north India––nor can we held responsible neighbouring Karnataka, with which Tamil Nadu has a water dispute on river Cauvery.

While Adyar is just 42.5 km long river Cooum is a bit longer––72 km.

No doubt rains in the last three weeks have been unprecedented yet poor maintenance of these two small rivers criss-crossing Chennai too is held responsible for the latest flood, which has taken over 300 lives.

Chennai is facing the same situation which Mumbai had in 2005. There too Mithi river, which is just 17.8 km long, was largely blamed for the misery. Yet 10 years later the Maharashtra government is yet to complete even one-third of its desiltation work.

Chennai too faced almost similar situation a decade ago but little effort has been made to revamp these two rivers and solve the drainage problem of India’s fourth largest city.

True, record rainfall was the cause of flooding of Mumbai in 2005 and Chennai now, but they are no match to the massive deluge caused by breach of embankment of river Kosi on Nepal-Bihar border in 2008. The 729 km long river originating from the highland of Everest, Kanchenjunga etc devastated thousands of square kilometres of land in over half a dozen districts of north Bihar. Thousands of human beings and cattle were swept away displacing 33 lakh people. As the slope is steep the current of water in all rivers of north Indian, especially the tributaries of Kosi, is very fast.

The only difference is that there is no metropolis like Chennai or Mumbai in that region. That is one reason why the devastation caught relatively little national media attention.

It took 10 days for the national television channels to highlight the real devastation of Kosi in August 2008, and that too when the then prime minister Manmohan Singh announced his plan to make an aerial survey of the entire region.

Though chief minister Nitish Kumar called it ‘parlay’ (doomsday) till then only the regional media was giving coverage.

Flood in Bihar is a perennial problem. Over 73.06% of total area of the state is flood-prone. At least 16.5% of the total flood prone area in India is located in Bihar. In the same way 22.1% of the country’s population prone to flood live here.

Slightly different is the story in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand which was ravaged by cloud burst of June 16, 2013 and subsequent flooding caused by Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers.

As many as 6,000 people lost their lives. This includes seven members of the family of present BJP MP from Buxar in Bihar, Ashwini Choubey, who was then a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet. Choubey, who too was there for pilgrimage, managed to somehow survive.

Jammu and Kashmir too witnessed a similar situation in the first week of September last year.

Rampant construction of huge buildings, roads, railway tracks, dams, embankments, power plants, industries etc are responsible for aggravating the miseries of the people in adverse situation.

Chennai and earlier Mumbai did witness heavy rainfall, but so did Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Bihar in earlier years. The state governments can at least take some excuse for devastating floods––though there is little scope for it––as the rivers which cause tragedies emanate from very highpoints––many of them across the international border and involves a lot of diplomacy.

In contrast if the governments in Chennai and Mumbai have failed to improve the sewerage system and desilt so small rivers––which have virtually been reduced to drains––the less said is better.

Disciplining these small peninsular rivers do not involve any neighbouring country or state. Work in this regard could have been done much more easily than the rivers of north India.

Thank God, there is nothing like Kosi––the very name suggests that it is river of sorrow––near Chennai or Mumbai. This river has shifted its course 130 km to west in 200 years between 1760 and 1960.

Man-made factors do play their role in natural disaster, but it seems that they have contributed more in Chennai and Mumbai, than elsewhere in north India.