The recent Kerala and Nagaland flood have left behind them a trail of devastation and bereaved hundreds of families. As these states are getting back on their feet, numerous stories of personal loss and bravery as also coming to the fore. Shoshamma Abraham, in Pandanad, near Chengannur town, is one of many flood victims, who have lost their near and dear ones. She lost her husband on 16th August, when he went to search for neighbours. His body had to be tied with ropes and wrapped in plastic. In the meantime, the family tried to reach for help in vain. The local hospital neither had men or materials to respond to the tragedy of such proportion. By the time his last rites could be completed after 5 days of his death, his body had already badly decayed. This is just one of many stories which are the result of such major disasters.
Kerala flood resulted in death or around 500 people and around a million people had to be evacuated. It is estimated that one-sixth of the population of the state was affected by the flood. Even though it has among one of the largest disasters in the state of Kerala in the last 100 years. It is not an isolated event. In the last few years, different parts of India has faced floods. From Gujarat to Assam, and Uttarakhand to Chennai hardly any part of India have been left untouched by any form of aberrant floods. This is especially true for major cities and other urban habitats. These floods are the result of both man-made and natural causes. They point to the systemic failure in short term and long term development planning.
Flood is caused by many different reasons but among them, two are most important, that is drainage and heavy rains. One of the major cause for floods is inadequate drainage for rainwater. The different natural and man-made drainage systems like a stream, canals, stormwater drains help drain excess water away from human settlements to larger water systems like rivers and seas. Due to human activities, these get blocked or their capacities are reduced. Furthermore as developing countries like India rapidly urbanises. The urban and industrial development also plays a major role in aggravating the problem of flood water drainage. Thus cities have witnessed one of worst floods in last one decade.
On 26th July 2005, Mumbai witnessed one of the worst floods in its history. More than 1000 people lost their lives. More recently in 2015 Chennai witnessed similar floods. This points to the fact that urbanisation is also causing floods. Firstly, urbanisation and industrial development cause a large amount of deforestation. This is followed but concretisation of the land, that used to be under vegetation before. This reduces the water absorbing capacity of the ground. Further, in many areas, water bodies like lakes, ponds and urban canals are either encroached or not maintained adequately. Thus their water holding capacity diminishes over time. This coupled with the inadequate storm and regular drainage systems of recently urbanised areas. This makes the cities particularly vulnerable to floods.
Another major cause of floods apart from drainage is that of extreme rainfall in an area. Even with the best of infrastructures heavy rain over a prolonged period of time can overwhelm any flood control and drainage system. The recent floods in Kerala and West Bengal have been the result of extreme rainfall. Which overflowed the dams and other drainage systems thus causing floods. At the same time, there are regions in India which are receiving less rain than they used to. These kinds of increasingly extreme weather-related disasters point towards a much larger global challenge of international climate change, and global warming.
According to a recent study by the World Bank, India accounts for one-fifth deaths caused by floods, globally. As temperatures rise in the coming decades' extreme weather conditions which causes floods will also increase. Thus increasing the frequency of floods in India. Currently, more than 1000 people die each year, due to floods and heavy rains, this number will only rise as climate change affects more parts of India. The report further adds that flooding and other climate change-related disasters will lower the standard of living for almost half the population of India. Therefore it has much greater implications for the country apart from the loss of lives.
The implication of floods and similar extreme weather-related disasters in India is far-reaching. Apart from the loss of lives and destruction of property. There are serious concerns about displacement and loss of economic productivity. A study at IIT-Gandhinagar has warned of frequent and extreme floods in 78 of 89 Indian cities. As more people start living in cities effects of flood will further get magnified and it will affect a far larger number of people. Extreme weather phenomenon like floods cannot be entirely prevented. Thus steps have to be taken to reduce the destructive forces of such disasters. By taking mitigative and adaptive policies towards floods.
To mitigate the adverse effects of such disasters short and long-term policies and planning is needed. Firstly, our cities have to safeguard natural water bodies like lakes, ponds and streams. Also, cities need to save themselves from unplanned development and concretisation of green spaces. At the same time, more green spaces and buffer zones must be created in and around the city. This will help in controlling floods up to a certain extent. Secondly, forecasting and disaster response system have to be improved in the light of recent events. The Government of India already has planned to increase the number of flood forecasting stations from 226 to 325. Apart from that local disaster management volunteer groups can be created with a student from college and high schools. They can become the first responders in these kinds of disasters at a very local level.
In long term, India has to align its developmental goals in ways that it causes the least environmental damage. And push for better environmental policies and deals at the international environmental bodies. Recent policies to reduce carbon emission in different sectors of the economy is a welcome step in this direction. But more has to be done to arrest the destructive forces that can be unleashed but climate change and extreme weather phenomenon like floods.
We can find some answers to our current problems in the lifestyle and planning processes of ancient civilisations. Floods for people of ancient times was nothing short of blessing as it brought silt, which was very productive for farming. Thus they learnt to live with nature and not against its processes. We also need to design our cities in such a way that its negative effect by natural disasters is minimised. There are communities which build houses with stilts in such a way that they are not flooded. In Netherland, there are already plans to build floating cities. We also need to come up with similar innovative methods to adapt to changing climate and environment.
Kerala floods have not just created Shoshamma Abraham, it also brought to fore P M Manoj. Who donated the money earmarked for the engagement of his daughter for flood relief. The fishermen who put their lives on the line to save the lives of their fellow citizens. As said before we can not completely prevent a natural disaster like a flood but we can adapt and mitigate its adverse effects. In this regard, both the public and government have to work hand in hand to achieve the best possible result. It is ultimately the spirit and virtue of people that is the biggest guardian of a society.
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