Chennai flooding and the power of digital India

Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, in Southern India, has endured over 40 days of torrential rainfall. Schools have been closed. The power supply has had to be halted leaving thousands of people without any energy. The airport runway looks like a canal. Hundreds of flights have been cancelled making it harder to get the relief teams fly into the city.  From the air, the city looks more like a shipwreck in the confines of the harsh realities of the Indian Ocean. The bright lights of a modern digital hub that Chennai has come to be famed for in recent times seems like a distant dream.

Amidst this tragedy, with the death toll expected to reach over 300, the people of Chennai and India are working hard to survive and beat the odds. Social Media has become the primary tool for fast communications getting the message out. According to Quartz, India ChennaiRainsHelp and ChennaiFloods have become among the most used hashtags on Twitter in India, utilised to offer shelter, food, transport, and even mobile recharges.

It is astonishing who old and new India is combining to help in the aid effort. A crowdsourced effort to map inundated roads in Chennai has been undertaken on social media. Over 2,400 flooded roads have been added to the city’s map, which was put together by engineer and information designer, Arun Ganesh.

Meanwhile, Chennai Rains, an independent weather blogging community, is providing periodical updates on the weather and rain in Chennai and southern India on Twitter. Another technology company Stayzilla—an online aggregator of budget and home stays—launched a campaign to list homes where people displaced by the rain can seek shelter.

The BBC has reported that more than 2,000 people have been rescued by the army, while the navy has decided to deploy a warship carrying divers, boats and relief material.

India Today has reported that while the government is struggling to help the people out of this unexpected disaster, South Indian artists have been proactive in lending a helping hand. Celebrities like Siddharth have been tweeting and re-tweeting all information that a person stuck in the floods might need. From emergency helpline numbers to places where people can get food, Siddharth helped convey the required information.

RJ Balaji has shown that he can do more than just make people laugh. Balaji, along with Siddharth, set up a team of volunteers to distribute food, blankets and all essentials to the victims. People who needed help were asked to tweet with the hashtag ChennaiMicro to contact their team.

The Indian Express reported how a group of recent college graduates started to collect and disburse data of people battling the rain in Chennai and need of aid resulted in a simple website — chennairains.org. The site compiles data from social media and messenger apps and feeds it into a spreadsheet, which is now public. Bringing together people who need help and those who are offering it, the website may soon surpass official channels of information.

The Times of India reports that high tech start up companies have been innovative in turning their buisness models to help the cause. Paytm launched a toll free number that Chennai residents can call for an instant Rs 30 recharge, and a few numbers for outside Chennai too, online food-ordering app Zomato launched a scheme whereby anyone can order a meal for the flood-affected. For every meal thus bought, Zomato would donate a meal to the affected. The company has tied up with local NGOs to deliver the meal in 30 minutes.

Taxi app Ola, has put out boats for the flood-affected parts of Chennai and now created Ola safety zones -free accommodation to stranded flood victims. The centres are equipped with relief supplies, first aid and food. Ride-hailing app Uber has launched a hashtag campaign KeepChennaiMoving offering free rides to those in Chennai on Wednesday and Thursday . Zoomcar, a selfdrive car rental company , has pressed its fleet to serve as ambulances. “Ten SUVs have helped many reach their local hospital. We’re getting calls every 10 minutes,” said ZoomCar founder Greg Moran.

Online grocer Bigbasket.com has a microsite, NammaChennaiRelief, where people can donate groceries online to a common pool as part of relief material. The microsite, open for five days now, has tied up with Chennai-based NGO Give Away to deliver goods every two days, founder Hari Menon said.

Practo, a healthcare discovery platform, is putting together a list of doctors and hospitals while Housejoy is offering free services such as electrical check-up, plumbing service, mosquito control for houses in certain areas.