Urban Flooding - Need to address the issue

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Urban Flooding and what measures can be taken

In earlier days we used to hear about river overflowing and causing floods. Dams used to overflow at the time of rains forcing opening of sluice gates bringing more water to downstream areas.Many villages used to have water gushing in and temples used to get submerged.

Overflowing of Brahmaputra, Yamuna , Godavari , Chandrabhaga etc. was regular news. However these days with just one shower city gets submerged in water. This is called "urban flooding".This is man made disaster. 

The open land within city is getting filled with concrete structures. The peripheral area of buildings is getting fitted with shahbad or equivalent tiles. Roads are either concretized or covered with tar. The walkways on side of road are having footpaths covered with tiles.Road dividers are concrete blocks. Huge concrete is pumped in making Flyover , Metro rail , mono rail etc. City looks chaka-chak but then where will rain water go ? It has no place to sip into soil. Such rain water accumulates and it forms river on streets or where ever it finds place. It also submerges rail tracks , ground floor houses etc.

Another thing which is cause is Nature itself. Nature has changed and it is changing further. The pattern of rain has changed. Earlier it used to rain continuously over a period of time. It could be 4 hours at stretch and even up to 3 days continuously. However now it rains at one go and amount of rain which used to happen over 3 days is now happening within 3 hours. The way we have fast train , fast food , fast hyper loop etc. This is " fast rain"

Due to global warming more water is evaporated which ultimately comes down. The phenomenon of Urban Flooding is observed in all Metros like Mumbai , Delhi , Kolkata , Chennai and Hyderabad. It is also observed in tier 2 cities like Ahmedabad, Rajkot , Patna ,Bhubaneshwar , Jammu, Nasik ,Nagpur etc. The issue is not restricted to India alone but even foreign cities like Bangkok,Jakarta,Karachi,Florida,Mexico have experienced flood like situation.

The immediate reaction of citizens and press is to blame Government. Many times city planners are criticized for not accounting for population explosion and putting residents into inconvenience. There is not only loss of property but it also spreads diseases. It is expressed that Government agencies like Municipal Corporation, State Government and Central Government are doing very little for this issue. Local bodies like municipal corporations award huge contracts for cleaning of storm water drains ,nullahs etc. Dewatering pumps are deployed in places wherein water logging takes place.Some of them even provide life boats for rescuing people who are stranded. In case of heavy rains first thing that is done is to close schools and colleges. Other thing which they do is to issue advisory to residents to not to leave their house.

However it is very difficult to follow these advisories. There are many who can earn only when they go out and work. Also it is observed that when advisory issued nothing much happens and heavy rain occurs suddenly and citizens and as well authorities are caught unaware.

What are factors which cause Urban Flooding ?
1) Poorly Maintained Drains
2) Plasic Bags
3) Garbage
4) Shrinking Open Spaces
4) Climate Change
5) Reduction in mangroves, marshland , wetland etc.

Urban flooding is not happening unannouced like earthquake or Tsunami. This happens only during monsoon and that too on heavy rain days. Many times weather forecasr about heavy rains is known. If all of us work systematically then we can definetely address this issue.

One recent success story is of Central Railway in Mumbai. They run suburban service in Mumbai City. Every year rail tracks get submerged in water and train services are either slow or get suspended. They did survey of rail area. All obstructions for water movement were removed. Openings were made in compound walls and culverts. In critical areas based on water logging history dewatering pumps were installed. The rail rakes wherein motor position was lower and likely to come in contact with water was not placed in service. Senior officials were deployed at key stations so that on the spot decision is given and action taken to remove water. These measures have helped in continuing service.

The measures which can be taken to avoid Urban Flooding are as follows
1) Cleaning of all storm water drains
2) Ban on plastic and throwing garbage in drains
3) No de-reservation of open plots.
4) Balance in Eco System to be maintained with mangroves,wetlands etc.
5) Rain water harvesting with adequate water storage.
6) Underground Storm Water drains in critical areas
7) Citizen Volunteers to support authorities

This phenomenon of "Urban Flooding " is here to stay. In Nagpur in Maharashtra recently there was 325 mm rain in 5 hours. Even Legistative Council building got flooded and though right from CM and entire cabinet was present nothing they could do except watching helplessly. Better be prepared and face and tackle with all our might. In Mumbai all reconstructed buildings are taking higher stilt area so that water does not gush into houses.

Future cities need to be built considering urban flooding.

Datt Udas
datt.udas63@gmail.com