Chennai cries out for help...on YouTube

CHENNAI: With over four lakh subscribers, ‘punny’ and ‘irreverent’ south side stories and a megaton of chutney is what this YouTube channel has been giving its viewers for the last two years. But they are not just about ‘South Indianising’ movie trailers or showcasing a Madras version of Alfred Pennyworth. After releasing a line of videos with hard-hitting facts about issues like Sharing Cauvery and Who killed Anita’, Culture Machine’s digital channel ‘Put Chutney’ has released its new video titled Save Chennai Save Ennore. Raj Mohan, the face of these videos, chats about the video and the concept behind it.

Exactly a year ago, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs submitted its report on the 2015 Chennai floods. The report concluded that encroachment of lakes and river beds played a major role in causing massive flood in Chennai, reads the official concept note of the channel. In this video, Raj Mohan plays the role of the city, in a plea to save it. “One day in office, we got talking about what will happen if another major flood hits Chennai. That’s when I read up and dived deep into the Ennore issue,” he recalls.

Ennore is a gateway for Chennai city, where excess water can go to. But, ignoring the 2015 report, the government of Tamil Nadu had given permission to the Kamarajar Port to develop the 1,000 acre Kosasthalaiyar River Bed for real estate purpose, and the repercussion of it is the crux of the video. “There are about 10 lakh residents in that area. If this conversion of wetlands to real estate happens in Ennore Creek, there is no chance for them or us to survive another flood!” he avers.

Talking about the natural eco system, and the effect of mining companies and other industries dumping its waste in such places, he says, “When we were shooting, we found an ‘ash pond’. The reason? The surrounding power stations and harbor dump their waste there,” he rues.

Talking to activists like Nithyanand Jayaraman opened him to facts and staggering information, he says. “We wanted to keep the video simple...something that everyone can understand. So, I became Chennai — to portray that all of us make the city and to save ourselves, one needs to save the city!” he shares.

With over 50,000 YouTube views so far, comments have been pouring in but he says that it’s the action that’s more important than the reaction. “I really wish that more channels take up such issues and talk about it,” he adds.

The group is shooting their next video and will release it in October. “It will be about a major scam that has been plaguing us,” adds Raj Mohan.

For details, visit their YouTube channel: Put Chutney