[Answered] Discuss the impact of global and local warming on urban flooding in India. How can existing governance and infrastructure systems be adapted to effectively handle these extreme weather events, particularly in cities along the coast, rivers, and hills? Provide examples of successful climate adaptation and flood response measures implemented in Indian cities.

The recent deluge in north-western India and Delhi has raised concerns regarding the effects of urban flooding in India.

How does global and local warming impact urban flooding?

• Urban Heat Island effect: Urban areas tend to be hotter as compared to rural areas because of the greater absorption of heat by buildings, roads, and infrastructure which naturally raises the temperature. Such high temperatures intensify evaporation from water bodies leading to flood risk.
• Sea level rise: Due to global warming there is melting of ice caps and glaciers which leads to a rise in sea level. This results in low-lying coastal cities experiencing heavy rainfall and sea level rise which finally leads to urban floods.
• High rainfall intensity: Global warming increases temperature which often leads to high-intensity rainfall in a few hours. This intense shower overwhelms the city’s drainage system and causes flooding.

How can the existing governance structure be revamped to handle such events?

• Ensuring drainage system works: A monsoon audit is undertaken by urban civic bodies like in Mumbai to ensure that storm water drains, tanks, and lakes exist and work, and they are not choked by construction debris, silt, garbage, or blocked encroachments. This can reduce the impact of flooding, and help recharge groundwater and surface storage.
• Recycle wastewater: The integration of drainage, water supply, and wastewater systems to store brief, heavy downpours while also treating and recycling wastewater to maintain clean water and sanitary conditions for the remainder of the year.
• Improving roads infrastructure: The road infrastructure has expanded faster than our drainage infrastructure. Effective infrastructure planning and coordination by all concerned agencies is the need of the hour as seen in
• Sponge Cities: The main goal of Sponge Cities is to lessen reliance on “grey infrastructure” such as levees, pipes, dams, and channels. Instead, green infrastructures—strategic natural, semi-natural, and engineered systems—will be developed to enable water absorption and storage during the monsoon and supply that water during the dry season. Permeable roads and sidewalks are being built with this objective in mind. Eg, Kochi & Bangalore.
• Improve warning services: There has considerable progress in mapping cities most prone to flooding and using satellite and topographical data to identify them. Eg, IFLOWS is a monitoring and flood warning system being operationalized in Mumbai.

Conclusion:

India needs to be prepared for more such events in the future on account of climate change. The priority of government should be to ensure that all urban residents have access to basic services and the focus of urban bodies should be on improving public health and reducing our collective vulnerability, and re-imagine our cities to have more forests, parks, wetlands, and lakes.