The unprecedented flooding and water logging in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Mumbai also highlights a distressing pattern. Cities such as Bangaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai experience recurrent crises — a cycle of misery, loss of life, property destruction, relief efforts, and then a return to ‘normalcy’. Why are cities never prepared for a deluge? While climate scientists and environmentalists argue that rain-induced flooding is a direct consequence of global warming, others attribute the devastation to unplanned urban development without proper hydrological planning. Is climate change the sole contributing factor, or are there other elements escalating the crisis?

Monsoon floods are accompanied by misery, the activation of disaster management services and deployment of security forces to manage casualties and damage. In the pursuit of ‘smart cities’, India’s major urban areas have either neglected or indiscriminately encroached upon natural reservoirs. Gujarat faces recurrent floods due to garbage and untreated sewage choking waterways. Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Guwahati too experience frequent floods as rampant encroachments diminish small water bodies and their feeding channels.

Whenever monsoon flooding occurs in cities, the narrative often centres around accusations of mismanagement, while others defend the situation by attributing it to excessive, unnatural rainfall or climate change. There is both a generalised and highly localised analysis of the causes — unplanned development and incomplete annual de-silting or drain-cleaning works.

This is followed by the announcement of grand mitigation projects in flood-prone cities such as the construction of large underground tanks at various flooding hotspots, integrated flood management projects, a strategic drainage development programme and a celebration of the resilience of the city and its citizens.

Flawed planning

Such discourse tends to deviate from a real analysis of the relationship between the city’s eco-environment and urban development plans. Floods can be predicted. The claim they occur due to exceptionally high rainfall, climate change and factors beyond human control is to underplay the responsibility of stakeholders.

The intensity of floods is linked to how the city’s moisture and water systems are planned, engineered and re-designed at different points in time. In several Indian cities, land reclamation, filling in of wetlands, encroachment over lakes and ponds and the building up of river channels are enabled by city planning and unauthorised development. As a result, while the built-up areas in cities are rising considerably, natural areas are decreasing significantly. This adds considerable pressure to already burdened and incomplete drainage systems. Urban flooding is a highly complicated problem, requiring deep technical expertise and complex engagement with many stakeholder groups. Cities often lack the know-how to fully gauge and act on the danger they face. By conducting urban flood risk assessments, local governments can better understand and manage flood risk. This helps protect the lives, livelihoods, and assets of their communities and plan for long-term changes such as sea-level rise or increased storm frequency.

Urban planning with robust drainage systems, is a must. Governments must take a decisive stance against encroachments and, where feasible, ensure the proper rehabilitation of those displaced. Citizens who endure unexpected floods should actively support government initiatives to remove encroachments, recognising the importance of proactive measures to mitigate hardships. Unless cities learn to engage in more nuanced, localised planning, cities will continue to experience floods on a recurring basis.

The writer is Associate Professor in VIT Chennai. The views are personal