Blame the change in weather from bright and sunny to dark and windy through the course of a single day to climate change -the reason behind the increased intensity of rainfall.
Experts feel urban flooding would become a norm rather than an exception unless measures are taken immediately . But Pune city remains unprepared to tackle the inundation caused by flooding.
Dwelling on the issue of climate change, the reason for increased intensity of rainfall, the deputy director general of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Chandra Bhushan explained that four major issues are perceptible: bad urban planning, encroachment of water bodies, increase in extreme weather events and lack of preparedness.
He further stated that the increased intensity of rainfall and urban flooding would become a common scenario and cities need to be prepared to tackle the problem. “We will have to protect our water bodies while at the same time be prepared for these events,“ he said.
Bhushan pointed out the case of the three recent flooding cases in Chennai, Mumbai and Leh. All of these locations received many times their monthly rainfall in a just a few hours. “Our assessment is that floods in Chennai were exacerbated by encroachment of water bodies and destruction of the city’s natural drainage systems,“ said Bhushan.
Susmita Sengupta, CSE’s expert on water, elaborated that since groundwater was not considered to be critical for water supply , recharge was neglected by urban planners as they valued land, not water. “There is no legal protection for city lakes, catchment, and drainage systems.Waterbodies and their catchment have been encroached upon or taken away for housing and other purposes,“ said Sengupta.
Delhi-based associate professor Shalini Saksena, in her research paper on sustainable urban ecology , described the risks of climate change, including changing local rainfall patterns that can lead to more frequent and higher levels of floods from rivers, more intense flash flooding and sea level rise in coastal cities, causing increased flood damage.
After the 2005 Mumbai floods, urban floods were recognized as a disaster for which separate guidelines have been laid out by the National Disaster Management Authority .
Pune faces the threat of flash floods, river flooding and urban flooding, which frequently occurs as a result of human activities, including rampant construction in flood plains and haphazard land reclamation, say experts.
Several studies have shown that devastating floods, waterlogging, caving of hillocks, depleting water-table and vanishing green cover have become common traits of cities that are increasingly facing the challenge of massive stress on urban ecology .
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has admitted that haphazard urbanization and development has caused immense damage to the carrying capacity of nullahs and drains in the city. “Increasing paved areas and development is causing water to flow on to the roads, resulting in damage and additional load on the existing drains along main roads. The demand for land has increased, which has affected natural drains. The width has been reduced due to encroachment, seriously affecting the carrying capacity of many drains,“ states the civic body’s official city development plan (CDP).
The CDP adds that development along the nullahs has not been carried out in a scientific and planned manner, resulting in the emergence of areas that are prone to flooding even during moderate rainfall.
“The civic administration has not taken any action against encroachments along natural nullahs that carry rain water away . Many reports that have sought immediate action by the PMC are gathering dust,“ said activist Vijay Kumbhar.
The PMC-appointed Prim-Move agency has divided the city into 23 watersheds and areas where nullahs have been encroached upon have also been identified. Of the 234 nullahs that have been identified spread across 362.11km, a 15.93-km stretch is fully obstructed while 51.89km are partially encroached upon.
Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Cha van said, “We have repeatedly asked the civic administration to take up the matter. Encroachments and debris dumping in water bodies continue unabated, citizens will have to pay a heavy price for this eventually.“
Source : TOI
