The aftermath of a colossal tragedy
Unprecedented rain lashed Chennai. This impacted the beleaguered print industry. At the time of going to press, Priya Raju learnt out about huge losses of print equipment, stocks in warehouses and manufacturing hitting a roadblock at a few factories.
16 Dec 2015 | By Priya Raju
Calamities paralyse the affected area in more ways than one. Chennai and the coastal town of Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu have been marooned in flood waters since 1 December 2015, with an unforeseen step of the city’s international airport being shut for almost a week.
A majority of presses in Chennai were shut down too. Plus godowns and warehouses very badly affected along with complete disruption of material and consumables movement.
So much that, this caused The Hindu in Chennai to halt printing for the first time since 1878. Malini Parthasarathy, editor, The Hindu, tweeted that while the Chennai plant located in Maraimalainagar was shut down; all the other editions of the daily were printed as per schedule. In his statement to a broadcaster, N Murali, publisher, The Hindu said, ”Our Maraimalainagar township was not accessible for the people who run the plant. So, none of our staff could reach the plant. It is located about 30kms from the city in Maraimalainagar. Even if we had printed the paper, I doubt if it could have been distributed in the city.”
Finally I got through to my friend, a Chennai-based printer. It was sad to hear that his press has been damaged and there was a complete loss; all his machines are under water including the Heidelberg SM 74.Dev Nair, Kohinoor Printers
The situation is very grim in here in Chennai, the floods have ravaged the city. Printers based in Chennai have their presses on the ground floor, and a majority of the presses and raw materials used has been submerged under water. This diwali has been a ‘wet-diwali’ for residents of greater Chennai and suburbs, and75% of the city was without electricity for a week. The city has come to a standstill; all the educational institutes have been shut for more than a month.
P Chander, who served as the past president of MPLA, and president of the All India Federation of Master Printers
Chander said, “The Madras Printers’ and Lithographers’ Association (MPLA) has circulated a detailed letter to all the printers in Chennai to gauge the extent of damages. In due course, the letter will be submitted to the statutory bodies, MSME and Government of Tamil Nadu to take action and provide assistance for the same."
Chander has appealed all the fellow printers of Chennai to stay calm and composed and colleagues from the other state to support them and help them rehabilitate.
Manoj Mehta, speaking to PrintWeek India said, “I had a long conversation with a couple of printers. According to these printers, some areas are badly affected, due to floods. Some press rooms have been affected too. Parts of the prime T Nagar locality, have seen almost 10 feet water.”
Even though our unit was unaffected by floods, other printing press in the industry have been hit badly. They have been faced extensive damages to property.
V Vaidyalingam, director at Suba Solutions
Vaidyalingam said, “It is important that we have a comprehensive all risk insurance cover. One should ensure that all the fine print in the policy should be looked into. Recently, a Chennai-based company lost 12 crores by way of material due to water flooding in their basement. The insurance policy, which the firm had excluded items/damages in the basement.”
Even though the disaster is unprecedented and the floods are a natural calamity, there are parts of it, which have been manufactured by man.
A senior printer and publisher said, “There are important lessons to be learnt from the Chennai deluge. For one, the importance the print industry needs to give to the environment and guarantee a green and clean policy. This should be a standard. Not just for the overseas clients who demand it but also the local businesses in Tamil Nadu. The awareness needs to be increased.”
Sharing his personal experience about the calamity, PrintWeek India’s Sriraam Selvam, said, “The city was divided into two by what some call the worst rains that Chennai has seen in a century. Access to the supposedly modern South Chennai was completely cut off from the rest of the city and posh areas being completely submerged as they are along the banks of Adyar river, causing massive loss.”
The need of the hour is not only immediate rehabilitation of people and businesses but also a long-term blueprint to avoid such catastrophe.
Sriraam Selvam, PrintWeek India
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