“Who is guilty for this mess?”
The issue lately resurfaced in Mumbai, India’s financial center as thousands of citizens once more found themselves stranded, wet and annoyed.
Before the monsoon had really started in full force, heavy rain brought the city to a standstill. Roads became rivers, cars broke down mid-commute, low-lying areas flooded hours on end.
Not even a recently constructed underground metro station could withstand the strong downpour as pictures and videos of the station swamped with murky water went viral.
Once more exposing the city’s precarious infrastructure, the pre-monsoon flood generated great indignation on social media.
Originally attributing the issue on trash blocking the sewers and debris from metro construction, The Hindustan Times daily stated the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), one of India’s richest civic agencies in charge of maintaining Mumbai’s infrastructure, initially blamed.
In response to criticism, the BMC started hand removing debris from drains to stop more waterlogging and placed de-watering pumps in flood-prone regions. For many of the people, though, the action arrived too late.
The situation is neither fresh or particular to Mumbai.
Every monsoon season India’s largest cities, from Delhi in the north to Bengaluru in the south, flood. Roads fall, drains spill, infrastructure gets overwhelmed, and traffic stops.
According to experts, the main reasons of this issue include fast unplanned urbanisation, inadequate infrastructure and years of environmental negligence.
“Three main valleys through which water naturally flows define Bengaluru. “Most of the lakes in the city are found in these valleys,” says lake preservation activist Ram Prasad.
Originally set as no-construction zones, these valleys have seen encroachment over time and subsequently legislative modifications allowing infrastructure projects to be developed there, he notes.
“The water has nowhere to go when you turn normally flood-absorbing lakes into developed regions. Thus, the outcome of inadequate urban design is what Bengaluru today is facing.”
Mr Prasad notes that Bengaluru, on top of a hill, was never supposed to flood and that the current state of affairs is wholly man-made.
He adds violations of building codes, particularly construction that goes straight over stormwater drains or narrows them, have just made matters worse.
Mumbai’s terrain presents natural difficulties in meantime. For instance, many of Mumbai’s low-lying areas near the sea are more susceptible to flooding after heavy rain and strong tides.
“The breakdown is systematic – it begins with planning that often doesn’t account for future climate variabilities, gets exacerbated by poor execution and is compounded by weak enforcement of regulations,” Mr Kukerja says. “Political will is usually reactive – responding to disasters rather than investing in long-term resilience.”
This is not only a concern for big cities. Often if not more, smaller towns suffer as well.
At least thirty persons perished in India’s northeastern states over the weekend following significant rainfall causing landslides and flooding. Tens of thousands have been impacted; rescue activities are under progress.
So, is there anything one might do to stop this?
“Yes,” Mr. Kukreja adds, only if it fits inside a long-term, coordinated plan.
He advises alert communities by means of mapping and real-time sensors to pinpoint high-risk areas. Furthermore useful for authorities in planning better responses are predictive models.
“But technology alone is not a fix; it needs to be matched with responsive governance and community involvement,” he said.
More than just de-watering pumps and fast solutions would help India’s cities survive the rains. Before damage is done, they require forward-looking planning.
