advertisement
While cities expand rapidly, drainage systems fail to be developed accordingly, leading to prolonged flooding during intense rainfall.
The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) in New Delhi insists on facilitating groundwater recharge to store excess flood water.
The Assam State Action Plan 2.0, which is pending approval, focuses on mainstreaming climate action into urban infrastructure, governance and policy.
“There was water till my waist,” recalls Tarun Rajkhowa, a 70-year-old resident of Guwahati city’s Rukminigaon area. In mid-June this year, when incessant rains inundated parts of the city, Rajkhowa and his wife were stranded in their first-floor apartment for nearly a week.
Only weeks after a severe wave of floods in May, heavy rainfall caused south Assam’s Silchar city to remain inundated for days for a second time.
Rainfall-induced floods have caused large-scale devastation in recent years in rural Assam. However, this year, crucial urban areas such as Silchar and Guwahati were considered the worst hit.
As a large number of people migrate to cities, experts say that there is a lack of urban planning and resources to support burgeoning populations, making these cities vulnerable to climate impacts, natural disasters, floods, landslides.
Dulumoni Kakati, a municipal ward councillor at Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) confirmed that increasing construction, urbanisation and improper waste disposal systems are some reasons why many areas in Guwahati are witnessing floods.
Calling for better drainage systems, she explained that when rainfall is low, flooding isn’t usually a risk. But intense rainfall as witnessed in June overwhelms the city’s drainage.
According to him, there is also not enough land in the cities to meet the needs of those who migrate from smaller areas in search of livelihood opportunities–especially those who are economically and socially marginalised.
“A lot of these people have taken to the hills and that has led to land cutting, which later clogs the drains in the cities. A town planning scheme would help these people. We tell them to not go to the hills but where will they stay? Most people who migrate are poor.”
A lack of clean drains and persisting unawareness among citizens he added, were manifestations of the larger problems.
Parthankar Choudhury, a professor of environmental science at Assam University in Silchar emphasises that while people living in single-storied houses have suffered a lot, the marginalised communities are going through tougher times.
Experts state that the rapid concretisation of surfaces and growth in infrastructure hinders the absorption of rainwater into the ground.
“Because of the rise in infrastructure, rainwater gets accumulated in the cities very early,” said Ratnakar Mahajan, technical manager at Maccaferri India, which focuses on advanced solutions for mining and environmental engineering projects.
The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) in New Delhi also insists on facilitating groundwater recharge to store excess floodwater.
“We emphasise proper management of ponds, lakes, and other water bodies that will serve as detention sinks during flooding events,” Hitesh Vaidya, director of NIUA said.
Mahajan believes that drainage systems aren’t being developed as cities expand rapidly. Drainage patterns should be tweaked according to the natural flow of water.
Rizwan Uz Zaman, technical consultant at Assam Climate Change Management Society (ACCMS) spoke of several initiatives recently undertaken by the government, including the State Action Plan 2.0 which has been approved by the Assam cabinet and is pending approval from New Delhi.
According to Zaman, the Assam State Action Plan on Climate Change 2.0 majorly focuses on mainstreaming climate action into urban governance and policy, building climate resilient urban housing and waste management infrastructure, low carbon road network and mobility, and ensuring holistic management of pollution/ emissions in cities.
Hrishiraj Sharma, an architect and town planner based in Guwahati said, “Water comes from the hills to the cities. The city can only take in water according to its capacity. Apart from that if excess water comes from the hills, the water levels in the valley will increase.”
NIA director Vaidya said that cities in the northeast are no different from others in India when it comes to typical gaps in urban planning. Among these gaps, he noted, was the reluctance to adopt a systematic approach. This can be attributed to a lack of coordination and interaction with communities and the general public.
“We need to move from a relief-centric to proactive response-centric approach to sustain extreme and more frequent disasters by building climate-resilient infrastructure.”
Mongabay-India contacted the GMC commissioner for an interview but did not receive a response at the time of publishing.
(This article was originally published in Mongabay. It has been published here with permission.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)