The Hindu Editorial Analysis- 6th October 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Calamity-prone — urban India’s worrying storyline 

Why in News?

In overnight rainfall, areas in Bengaluru were inundated raising again the old questions about the reasons behind the flooding.

How much rain has Bengaluru received in August 2022?

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that in August 2022, Bengaluru received 370 mm of rainfall, falling only a little short of the all-time record of 387.1 mm of rainfall.
• Since June 2022, the city has received 769 mm of rainfall, departing significantly from the average of 425 mm in this period.
• In the last decade, the August of 2017 and 2011 were very wet whereas other years were dry.

Floods:

• A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land that is usually dry.
• In the sense of “flowing water“, the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide.
• There are three common type of floods:
  • Flash Floods: Caused by rapid and extensive rainfalls.
  • River Floods: Caused when consistente rain or snow melt forces a river to exceed capacity.
  • Coastal Floods: Caused by storm surges associated with tropical cyclones and tsunami.

What is the reason for the flood?

Urban flooding refers to the inundation of property in a built environment, particularly in more densely populated areas, caused by rain falling on increased amounts of impervious surfaces and overwhelming the capacity of drainage systems.

• Rainbow Drive Layout Flood- Rainbow Drive Layout Area was created near a drain that was used primarily for irrigation.
• Over a period of time, the buildings which were constructed close to the layout raised their height, thereby making the area a “soup bowl”.
• The excess water from the surrounding villages is being directed to the Rainbow Drive Layout.
• Outer Ring Road Flood- Chief Minister Bommai found that the major reason for the flooding of the area was the encroachment of stormwater drains.The width of the drain had come down from 30 feet to 4 feet.
• Lack of infrastructure is one of the biggest reasons why ORR floods every year.
• There are quite a few engineering flaws in the development of the road such as the lack of culverts.
• The flyover on ORR doesn’t have any water harvesting system.

How is the administration addressing the flood?

• Legal procedures are being looked after which the properties encroaching on the drain would be demolished.
• An order was promulgated for the construction of a drain on a public-private model that will carry rainwater from the Layout to the Sarjapur culvert.
• With the change in the topography of the area, a new drain design is being looked into.
• Need of the hour- Standard operating procedures (SOP) listed by Urban development ministry at various stages of preparedness ghas to be followed.
• Development needs to be climate-smart by preventing any further worsening of the hydrological patterns in cities. 
• Existing construction on lake beds and other water bodies needs to be removed or redesigned to allow flood drainage along natural water channels.

Steps that can be taken to prevent floods in cities:

• Decongest the city
• Plant more trees
• Save wetlands
• Desilt drains
• Enlarge sewers
• Deconcretise pavements
• Stop the clogging of waterways with unsegregated garbage.
• Demolition of unauthorized encroachments.

Way Forward

• Disaster Preparedness Plan:
  •  A comprehensive flood management plan is needed to include Disaster preparedness.This may require strengthening of the following:
  • Flood Hotspot Mapping at local and regional scale.
  • Management and regulation of riparian zones to prevent spilling and erosion.
  • River flood modelling to prepare for incidences like reservoir breach and emergency water release from dams.
  • Advanced techniques such as mapping based on satellite imagery and Geographic Information Systems will help in development of flood early warning systems.
• Integrated Approach:
  •  Steps need to be taken for watershed management through an integrated approach. Often these approaches involve both hard engineering solutions and ecologically sustainable soft solutions.
    • Hard Solutions: It involves civil engineering construction such as dams, culverts and dykes, widening and deepening of river channels and diversion channels to store and divert water to increase the lag time of water reaching downstream.
    • Ecological Soft Solutions: The solutions such as restoration and management of riparian zones, afforestation along the river channels which led to retention of rainwater and reduces the river discharge.
  • An integrated approach to managing floods requires a sound understanding of the patterns that rivers such as the Ganga and its tributaries display during the monsoon.
• Prioritising Buffers, Flexibility and Adaptability: 
  • This includes reviewing safety criteria of dams and canals, re-building these with higher safety factors, creating new intermediate storages, and introducing dynamic reservoir management.
• Reducing Disaster Risk Reduction: 
  • There is a need for efficient implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, this will reduce the vulnerability of any disaster.
• Focusing on Urban Flood Management:
  •  Keeping in view the fact that the problem of Urban Flooding is becoming more severe and losses are mounting every year.
  • The subject of urban flooding needs exclusive attention and the proper implementation of NDMA guidelines on Urban Flooding 2016, is the need of the hour.

Conclusion

As floods cause major damage to life and property every year, it is time the central and the state governments prepare a long-term plan that goes beyond piecemeal measures like building embankments and dredging to control floods. Also, there is a need for an integrated basin management plan that brings all the river-basin sharing countries as well Indian states on board.