Two years back when my husband told me that his builder friend who was living in an apartment complex of six flats in Ashok Nagar had to vacate the premises because the whole building was infested with termites, I found it unbelievable even if it came from informed persons. All the families moved out as the entire edifice succumbed to relentless termite invasion as colonies of white ants took over wall to wall, ceiling to ceiling. Now the only hope lies in pulling down the hardly twenty year old structure and go in for reconstruction after due chemical termite treatment, completely eliminating the roots of the termites from the soil. The termite story sounded farfetched to my ears. It was bizarre, the kind of which we have not come across in the city. Termites do occur but go away on proper treatment. Afterall, India is a monsoon country. Chennai is wet for months every year although we don’t have intense rains every single day. But it keeps pouring every late evening during monsoons and the wall dampness is there for half an year. The moistness combined with our wooden furniture and fittings make for a fertile ground for termites to breed in uncontrolled.
I met with a friend who is a resident of Nungambakkam for last forty years. I was taken aback when she said, in all these years as resident of central Chennai, her residence was never so eaten by termites. She has lost her living showcase and wardrobes to the termites spreading like wildfire to the upper floors.
My friend in Saligramam said she has lost both her bathroom doors to termites.
My apartment block is under attack from termites for over two years now. A fairly recent construction a mere 12 years old, it took us by shocking surprise. We have since been treating the termite engaging pest control services in vain. Finally hopefully right this moment, we have the termites under control. In my home, the termites devoured an entire wardrobe in one of the bedrooms. My neighbours have lost doors, windows and wardrobes to termites. One has lost the entire carpentry from the wardrobes in all the three bedrooms along with the kitchen cabinets. This kind of massive termite invasion within a very short time, we are seeing for the first time in our lives.
I have seen termites in the second floor terrace bedroom of my old Mylapore house when I was a little girl. That was because we had rain water stagnation in the roof that seeped into the wooden rafters. Even then the termites could not eat the Burma teak wardrobes hand chiseled by a carpenter my grandfather had engaged for the work. The teak cot and the rosewood dresser too escaped the termite assault under the same roof. The teak cot was with me for years before I gave it up for a new one. The dresser I still have, over a hundred year old and going strong. It almost feels like steel. Fearing termites, I got it painted instead of varnish. I regretted it immediately but at that point of time, saving it was my only concern.
Our joint family flats in Mylapore, also fairly new and not older than ten to twelve years, came under termite attack but the menace was immediately tackled. The termites have been routed out without a trace but that has made us wary. We keep looking out for the pest all twenty four hours.
So what could be reason for exploding termite problem in the city in the last few years? Someone said, it could be the 2017 deluge from historic monsoons that Chennai witnessed. It was as if the city was going under the sea. The water levels rose two floor levels high. Buildings remained submerged in stagnant water in some parts of the city for weeks before being drained completely. Loss of life and loss to property was enormous. Someone distantly related to me had teak investments worth over ten million rupees stocked in his stores for future carpentry. He lost everything to the deluge as the wood, even being the Kerala teak, wasted. Its just a guess, but we suppose the termites must be having a free run since then. The city also has two monsoon seasons. We get scanty rains from the south west monsoons in May-Aug season that can keep our earth wet for months. This is the monsoon that feeds the rest of India. It leaves just the east Coromandel coast free or with little downpour. The second spell is vigourous for us in Sep-Dec quarter. The moisture in the walls and the earth gets precipitated during this time. It means for a good six month period, our structures may retain dampness. But Chennai also has harsh summers when our temperature may touch 40 c. Plus we only could be hot, hotter, hottest. We don’t have a chilly winter at all. Normally that may offset the spread of termites. But the unprecedented floodings of the 2017 monsoons must have taken the lid out of the contained termite infestations. Ever since the city is seeing termite spread like wildfire building to building wrecking severe damages. Its almost like an epidemic now.
Kerala is teak country wherefrom we used to get our hardwood mostly. The strength of teak lies in resisting termites as the trees mostly grow in rainforests that are primary. My Kerala friends homes have impressive woodwork the kind of which I have not seen anywhere in the world, given my limited travel exposure. The durability and density of teak is the reason. Even so, my friend from Kerala was surprised to note termite colonies making a beeline to her bathroom doors. It may help to remember that Kerala too saw unprecedented floods in 2019 or so that plunged most of the state in stagnant waters for weeks. After Chennai, could it be a reason for Kerala to see an explosive expansion of the white ant colonies?
I am normally someone who routinely goes for pest control. I went for added termite treatment before moving in that was good enough for first five years. Early this year I noticed termites creeping in that I got arrested immediately. I got the whole place drilled and treated for termites and got my house repainted. Within three months, the termites still made it to one of my wardrobes and almost ate it completely from within. I understand, it came from my neighbour who neglected it first to the detriment of everyone’s property.
Does India have anything along lines of research on termite invasions? Just wondering. I just googled and found that over 150 trees in Anna University were treated for termite infestation in the year 2020. While replacing my lost woodwork, I considered going in for aluminium or PVC wardrobes but ruled against them because they don’t look aesthetic. Somehow having metal at home for storage than minimal does not appeal to me. My modest woodwork was completely my selection, choice and designing. I went for termite-free MDF plys even the last time. But the experienced carpenter who I have engaged now says the life of treated MDF also cannot be over ten years and after that they lose all the chemicals and start attracting white ants (termites) and borers. My latest two wardrobes I have gone for second grade teak that is stated to be a little more resistant to termite attacks. But we don’t get the original Burma teak anymore in India. Even the Kerala teak is not the primary forest teak in last many years. I understand we now have African teak imported into India or Malaysian/Indonesian teak which are weaker than our original Indian teak that we have almost completely lost to deforestation. So the teak now we use is a poor substitute to the original teak our parents homes came with. For the plys for the racks, I have gone for branded termite and borer proof MDF plywood. One thing eludes my understanding: I found waterproof MDF plys and termite-borer proof plys that were not necessarily mutually inclusive of features. Why do we need waterproof plys in bedroom wardrobes. I can reckon their relevance in our kitchens.
The termites issue is not a trivial matter. From what I hear, almost every single area/locality in the city is now infested with colonies of white ants (termites) that are relentless in their attacks, taking down building after building. The very earth under our foot seems to be infested as a friend told me. For her the termite invaded right from ground level climbing floors.
This mandates regular and extensive termite treatment in all our homes and neighbourhood and office spaces if we have to save on future damage control bills or replacements/reconstruction of lost furniture/woodwork. I wish some environmentalist looks into this as well and give us an idea on the problem and how to go about it. First of all I would like to know where we stand. Is there any government department that takes stock of this kind of pestilence in our city/state/country.
vijiravindran's 