Most Indian states have borne the brunt of extreme rains this monsoon season. Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Assam and Bihar have skilled heavy rainfall and flooding over the previous couple of weeks. In some circumstances, the rise in rainfall has exceeded greater than 20% in comparison with the traditional common on this season. As India sees an increasing number of climate extremes, such heavy rainfall and floods pose a critical menace to lives, livelihoods, and concrete infrastructure.
There are two major causes for the flooding. Floods are an consequence of heavy rainfall, and these excessive occasions are growing as a result of local weather disaster. Within the final decade, in comparison with the earlier 30 years, an evaluation by the Council on Vitality, Surroundings and Water (CEEW) has proven that greater than 64% of Indian sub-districts or tehsils have witnessed a rise in heavy rainfall days. Not solely that, this heavy rainfall typically is available in brief bursts of intense rain. We discovered that cities reminiscent of Pune, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Hyderabad are particularly affected. However human actions additionally intensify the influence of flooding. Poor laws associated to land-use-and-change insurance policies typically disrupt drainages which are pure conduits for water circulation. This results in increased water runoff from dense built-up areas throughout heavy rainfall or storms. Poor implementation of strong waste administration insurance policies find yourself choking the waterways in our cities and cities even additional. Lastly, insufficient design of stormwater drains results in sluggish outflow, resulting in waterlogging.
It’s excessive time we rethink cope with city floods and transfer from response to readiness. The answer lies in enhancing our preparation — pre-monsoon, throughout monsoon, and post-monsoon. That is the place an motion plan to handle flood dangers could be a great tool. Such a plan ought to ideally cowl two vital checks.
First, city native our bodies should reassess the intensity-duration-frequency of storm occasions by trying into the most recent rainfall patterns and revising the height flood circulation and quantity knowledge. In truth, such assessments are often not undertaken often on the metropolis degree, typically resulting in stormwater drains being designed based mostly on outdated knowledge and making their capability inadequate to deal with heavy rain. As an illustration, CEEW’s evaluation exhibits that Thane in Maharashtra lacks a stormwater drainage system that may handle peak circulation generated from one hour of heavy rain, which has been round 64 mm/hr for town within the final decade. The Thane Municipal Company has taken cognisance of those revised estimates and is contemplating designing new stormwater drains based mostly on them.
Second, authorities ought to undertake flood danger assessments to establish “scorching spots” in a metropolis. This entails figuring out dangers posed by hazards associated to excessive rainfall, publicity of “property” reminiscent of hospitals and faculties to excessive rainfall occasions, and vulnerability, together with the adaptability of communities to deal with the adversarial impacts of maximum rainfall occasions.
Lastly, it’s vital to handle flood danger via particular interventions over the brief, medium, and long run — and never simply when a metropolis floods. The motion that must be taken instantly is the strengthening of the climate monitoring system, as per the World Meteorological Organisation norms. Doppler climate radars, which have been lately put in in varied cities, could be essential in exact rainfall forecasts. One other short-term measure could be designing campaigns to nudge neighborhood behaviour to deal with strong and different waste higher in order that it doesn’t clog drains. As an illustration, town of Indore was instrumental in efficiently sensitising residents to segregate their waste at supply and to not dump rubbish in open areas. Related efforts by the cities of Tirupati and Alleppey supply good examples to study from.
Lastly, city native our bodies should separate stormwater and sewerage programs, which are sometimes one and the identical in Indian cities.
Within the medium time period, establishing an City Flood Administration Cell to coordinate with completely different businesses in control of growing and managing public city infrastructure is essential. Furthermore, changing ageing stormwater drainage infrastructure is important — as Cuttack in Odisha has accomplished. Nonetheless, the drains have to be designed in keeping with the most recent rainfall sample assessments.
In the long run, rejuvenating native wetlands and water our bodies, which act as sponges, is essential. The fifteenth Finance Fee allotted ₹2,500 crore for lowering flood danger throughout seven main cities in India reminiscent of Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata. We should discover the potential of nature-based options, reminiscent of integrating wetlands with the prevailing gray infrastructure within the metropolis. To scale up such options, use a unified framework for mapping and estimating advantages to herald focused investments.
Flooding and heavy rainfall have gotten the brand new regular in India. Our cities should urgently turn out to be flood-proof, and never simply reply in monsoon months. For cities, risk-informed water planning all yr spherical is the way in which ahead. It saves lives and livelihoods.
Nitin Bassi and Vishwas Chitale are senior programme leads with the Council on Vitality, Surroundings and Water (CEEW). The views expressed are private
