Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Performance Audit of Flood Management and Response in Chennai and its Suburban Areas
In a scathing report the Comptroller and Auditor General Of India (CAG) held the state government responsible for the 2015 Chennai floods and called it a "man-made disaster." The report tabled in Tamil Nadu assembly on July 9, two-and-a-half years after the floods that killed 300 people, claims there was serious failure in the operation of the Chembarambakkam reservoir, outside Chennai, from where 29, 000 cusecs of water was released against the recommended 12, 000 cusescs. The CAG report blamed the Tamil Nadu government for allowing encroachment of lakes and river floodplains, leading to massive destruction. There was no coordination among departments and the Disaster Management Authority constituted in 2013, had not even met once till floods happened said the CAG report. The report also blamed the state government for failing to create two new reservoirs upstream of Chemberambakkam Lake, as recommended by an expert body and tardy implementation of restoration of water bodies' project.