Indian Cities under Water: Will Your Town too Get Flooded?

Indian Cities under Water
Will Your Town too Get Flooded?

Flooded street of Guwahati in June 2022

Bengaluru has been in the news lately. However, most of Indian cities are likely to experience urban flooding with various levels of severity. What are the reasons for this annual disaster? Can we still rescue our urban areas?

Every monsoon we hear about flooded streets of metro cities. Recently, smaller towns have also joined this sad list and we can not help, but ask ourselves why does urban flooding occur?

Here are just a few reasons:

Heavy rains have increased over India, while the total amount of rainfall has decreased. It rains more intensely in shorter period of time

Clogged or dysfunctional drainage prevents rainwater from flowing freely

Construction on lake and river beds, complete disregard for natural flow of water

Cutting of trees in already stressed urban areas, concrete roads and absence of 'empty' spaces due to overpopulation

Dr. Madhavan Nair Rajeevan explains how Indian cities can prepare better for heavy rain events

Can we still try and reverse the damage? We can not change the rain pattern, but we can take an individual action to help mitigate urban flooding.

Before building/buying a house or apartment do a due diligence check and compare the old map of the place with the current one. If you see, that the land has been 'reclaimed' from a lake or river you are almost sure to experience urban flooding there.

Demand action from your local municipal authorities: monsoon preparedness starts well before the monsoon season!

Set an example: don't throw garbage into the drains, look after cleanliness in your area, report illegal or suspicious construction activities and garbage dumping!

Weather & Radar editorial desk

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