Major cities of India are becoming vulnerable to flood conditions. Discuss.

Popular Indian cities like Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Kozhikode abruptly face water-logging situations every year. It affects normal lifestyle, life loss, and infrastructure damage. The nature of Urban flooding is totally different from rural flooding. It causes more damage due to the huge population density in the urban areas.

Causes

• Heavy rainfall, cyclones, and thunderstorms cause waterlogging and due to the lack of proper planning of drainage facilities, flood-like situations take place.
• Climate change and problems in weather forecasting led to natural disasters.
• Filling up the abandoned or dried pond is a major reason for waterlogging as it can store excess water during heavy rain.
• An improper solid waste management system is responsible for clogging the natural drainage path.
• Creating dams in eco-sensitive zones cause disaster due to soil erosion and landslides.

Impacts

• Abrupt flood outbreak in urban areas causes damages to infrastructure i.e. roads, buildings, industries, etc.
• The transport and communication i.e. mobile internet, train and bus service, telecommunication get affected.
• It also causes life loss, habitat loss, water contamination, loss of trees, an outbreak of fatal disease, etc.

Way out

• Proper urban planning with modern drainage facility.
• Using advanced technology in weather forecast and following the guidelines of the National Disaster Management Authority.
• More focus and restrictions on industrial activities near eco-sensitive areas.
• Rainwater harvesting program following the Brazil model.
• Protection of wetlands.
• Introduction of quick response force for disaster management.

Considering the problem of urban areas and taking into account the intensity of the damage, a proper action plan should be implemented in the form of preventive as well as curative measures. In near future, the problem should definitely be eradicated.