Water as woe

Source: The Hindu

Relevance: Urban flooding is a recurring event. This article highlights the reasons behind it.

Synopsis: Mumbai cannot manage its flooding without a new deal for drainage and housing

Background

• Due to global warming, the volume and duration of monsoonal rain are becoming unpredictable, and its catastrophic impacts on cities will become more frequent.
• The revival of the monsoon has affected Mumbai and its suburbs once again. It has disrupted drinking water supplies and had exposed the ill state of its infrastructure.
• The limitations of Mumbai’s infrastructure to accommodate intense monsoons, and its inability to provide affordable inner-city housing to the less affluent, are making other cities look more attractive.

Steps taken

The aftermath of catastrophic floods in Mumbai and Chennai in 2005 and 2015 led to the following initiatives.

• The management plan was drawn up by the National Disaster Management Authority
• The first dedicated stormwater drainage manual has been brought out by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• Further, a fact-finding committee appointed by the Maharashtra government in 2005 has given the following recommendation to mitigate the crisis.
  • Liberate the city’s rivers and lakes from various impediments,
  • Enable perennial flow in the mithi river,
  • Create fresh holding lakes for excess waters,
  • Rehabilitate those who live in risky locations.

But such initiatives can do little if States, do not address the challenges posed by urbanization.

Conclusion

• Mumbai’s neglect is not unique, most big cities are unsustainably expanding to the suburbs where even basic infrastructure is absent. Lakes and river areas are heavily encroached in these cities.
• Such unplanned growth, with no defenses against weather disasters, is leaving cities a lot poorer.