Abstract

This case discusses the disaster caused during floods in the southern parts of India in 2015. The case specifically focuses on the huge losses and damages in the city of Chennai, a smart city aspirant. Hundreds of people lost their lives, thousands of people became homeless and croplands destroyed. The southern region of India, under the influence of the potent northeast monsoon, usually experienced a wet season during the October to December period. But the heavy rainfall during November- December 2015 broke a century-old record. Life in Chennai came to a standstill because of the erratic rains and persistent floods. Streets got flooded, train tracks and the airport submerged, power and communication systems failing, and hospitals paralyzed. In June 2015, Narendra Modi (Modi), Prime Minister of India, launched his ambitious Smart City Project with the objective to develop 100 smart cities across the country. Based on the parameters set for smart cities, Chennai qualified into the list of aspirants. But the floods gave a terrible blow to all the hyper active planning. It exposed the mismanagement, corruption, bad urban planning, poor infrastructure and lack of preparedness of the state to tackle such situations. The case highlights the problems existing in the city and loop holes that may pose challenge to the smart city dream of Chennai.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Know about the damages caused during Chennai floods.
• Analyze the reasons that led to the disaster.
• Introspect the challenges for the smart city project.

Keywords

Chennai Floods,Losses and damages,Causes behind,Smart City preparations,Loop holes & Challenges