Under deluge, India’s SaaS capital finds a lifeline in startups

It is known as the SaaS capital of India, but it’s in a crisis. Chennai is under deluge after weeks of abnormally heavy rains, the worst in over a hundred years. Houses, roads, rail tracks, and the airport runway are submerged and 190 people are dead.

In this acute crisis, drenched residents have found a friend – in startups, many of them from Bangalore. Ironically, the states in which these two cities are located, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, have always been at loggerheads over – you will never guess it – water. A river runs through both states and for decades an argument over water rights has remained unresolved. But desperate times call for desperate measures, don’t they?

Never before have startups played such a stellar role during a crisis in India. Using crowdsourcing for information, they have stepped into the troubled waters with food, rescue, and relief. The SaaS connections between Chennai and Bangalore have been activated.

See: Why are Indian startups so SaaSy? I took a bus ride with 40 entrepreneurs to find out

Friends in need

The SaaS community of Bangalore – essentially a network of startups that provide software as a service – has sprung into action. On Friday its representatives will leave for the flooded city with food, medicines, clothes, and other essentials that could provide relief, a source told Tech in Asia.

Practo, one of India’s leading medtech startups, has drawn up a list of hospitals and doctors who can be called for any emergency.

Amid reports that some cab drivers were fleecing people, on-demand taxi provider Uber has announced free rides today and tomorrow. Its main rival in India, Ola, has been supplying its drivers with food and lamps.

A website called Chennairains.org has risen to the occasion. It collects data from social media and messenger apps and puts it on a spreadsheet. This information – on people and places offering shelter according to locality – can be accessed by the public.

Chennai dwellers have also taken to tweeting helpline numbers, and safety tips. Three hashtags: #ChennaiRains, #ChennaiFloods, and #ChennaiRainsHelp are providing real-time updates, with over 500,000 related tweets in 24 hours. Many have come forward to provide mobile top-ups to those in distress.

How this happened to Chennai

Home to 4 million people in India’s deep south, Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu state. It is flanked by the Bay of Bengal on one side and Karnataka on the other. Weeks of unusual rains have battered the city, virtually cutting it off from the rest of the state. Poor urban planning and illegal constructions have led to severe water-logging.

Practo

Paytm

Uber

Ola

UrbanClap

Zomato

---