| Introduction: Contextual Introduction Body: Highlight the significance of integrating informal settlements into long-term resilience strategies and suggest measures to achieve this. Conclusion: Way forward |
With rapid urbanization and increasing climate challenges, India’s cities are struggling to manage disasters such as extreme heat, floods, and water shortages. The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024, offers a promising step by establishing urban disaster management authorities. However, it risks perpetuating the exclusion of informal settlements, where nearly one in five urban Indians reside. Ensuring their integration into resilience strategies is crucial for sustainable urban development.
Significance of Integrating Informal Settlements
- Frontline Vulnerability: Informal settlements are at the forefront of climate risks but often lack infrastructure, making them highly susceptible to disasters.
- Improved Disaster Preparedness: The inclusion of these settlements in planning—such as Jodhpur’s Heat Action Plan—enables better vulnerability assessments and targeted interventions.
- Economic and Social Stability: Informal workers are vital to urban economies; their displacement due to climate events disrupts economic productivity.
- Scalable Local Solutions: Community-led resilience strategies, such as Odisha’s sustainable sanitation project, showcase effective adaptation models that can be replicated.
- Public Health and Safety: Poor living conditions amplify the effects of climate hazards, increasing disease burden and mortality rates.
Measures to Enhance Urban Climate Resilience
- Community Participation: Leveraging local knowledge for risk mapping and decision-making (e.g., SEEDS and AI-driven heat vulnerability mapping in Delhi).
- Technology and Digital Tools: AI-based solutions and mobile platforms can improve early warning systems and resource allocation.
- Diversified Financing Models: Public-private partnerships, microfinance, and fintech solutions (e.g., Three Wheels United’s electric rickshaw financing) can improve accessibility to climate-resilient infrastructure.
- Institutional Integration: Embedding resilience strategies into State budgets, city climate plans, and urban legislation for long-term sustainability.
- Policy and Governance Reforms: Strengthen urban governance with pro-poor policies, integrating informal settlements into municipal planning.
Conclusion
Investing in resilient futures for informal settlements is both a moral and strategic imperative. By incorporating community-driven innovations, financial inclusion, and policy reforms, India can build equitable and climate-resilient cities aligned with its sustainable development goals.
