The monsoon season in India brings catastrophe, particularly in big cities, every year. Unprecedented rainfall causes more misery to the people. The plight of residents of Delhi and Bengaluru has raised several questions before the policymakers. This phenomenon is not new. This tragic situation occurred in Mumbai in 2005, Chennai in 2015, Gurugram in 2016, Hyderabad in 2020, Kolkata in 2021, and Delhi in 2021. The authorities concerned put the blame on the climate crisis every time. But one major point has emerged significantly from these incidents, and that is the 'woefully inadequate drainage systems in Indian metropolis to deal with the intensifying vagaries of the climate". (1) Poor and outdated drainage systems are the main cause of annual flooding in the major cities in India. This sounds quite strange from a historical perspective. We feel proud of our own Indus Valley Civilization, also known as Harappa Civilization or Harappa Culture which flourished around the early part of the 3rd millennium. Mainly thriving in the Indus plains, it was primarily city culture in its later phase. Cities like Mohenjo Daro, Lothal, Kalibanga, Harappa, Dholavira, and others enjoyed the best ingredients of well-organized city life. Arguably, the most important ingredient was their drainage system which has been so succinctly described by the renowned historian, A.L. Basham in his book, The Wonder That Was India as such: "The houses had bathrooms, the design of which shows that the Harappan, like the modern Indian, preferred to take his bath standing, by pouring pitchers of water over his head. The bathrooms were provided with drains, which flowed into sewers under the main streets, leading to soak pits. The sewers were covered throughout their length by large brick slabs. The unique sewerage system of the Indus people must have been maintained by some municipal organizations and is one of the most impressive of their achievements. No other ancient civilization until that of the Romans had so efficient a system of drains". In contrast to our grand legacy, the present situation is just deplorable. That can be easily understood by looking at the prevailing state of affairs in two cosmopolitan cities of India-Delhi and Bengaluru as such:

Delhi

The capital city of India was marooned by the heaviest showers this year in 40 years and four people were killed. Delhi received a little over 261mm of rain, or 125% of the amount it receives on average over July, between 8.30 am on Saturday and 5.30 pm on Sunday which resulted in opening up sinkholes on arterial roads, crushing buildings, uprooting trees and inundating neighborhoods. (2) Furthermore, Delhi had to face the worst flooding in 45 years. The river Yamuna rose to its highest level in the city since 1978 with the ingress of torrents of water released from the Hathinikund barrage from the neighboring State of Haryana. 16,000 people were evacuated as the flood water marooned the vast swathes of the capital city. (3)

In Delhi, the existing drainage system is choked and outdated. It was designed for water levels far below what has become normal for the Yamuna during the monsoon season. The master plan for drainage was drawn in 1976, for a population that was one-fourth as compared to the current population. It was made to withstand showers of a fraction of the intensity which is now seen as a result of the climate crisis. The city can be primarily divided into three drainage basins, namely, Najafgarh, Trans-Jamuna, and Barapullah. Together, they can cater to a maximum of 50 mm of rainfall which is of limited utility in comparison to the current level of 125 mm of rainfall. The municipal authorities, as usual, keep themselves busy making contingency plans. No brainstorming is ever conducted to make use of this water for groundwater recharge, recycling, and reusing storm water into the drainage master plan besides preserving natural ecosystems. (4) In Delhi, a drainage master plan update has been a work in progress for decades and a prototype already exists in the form of a drainage blueprint designed by IIT-Delhi. Its immediate finalization is the need of the hour. (5)

Bengaluru

Last year in the rainy season, unprecedented rainfall over 48 hours had inundated 'one poorly planned neighborhood after another in Bengaluru, forcing authorities to use rafts, tractors, and dinghies to help people wading through waist-high sheets of slush and water'. (6) Incidentally, Bengaluru is said to be India's Information Technology capital. It is pertinent to note the words of T.R. Raghunandan, a former civil servant, and ex-Secretary, Panchayat Raj, Government of Karnataka, here in this regard about what went wrong in Bengaluru. He states: "Bengaluru has expanded, swallowing up the villages around it, panchayats were disbanded to create six city municipal corporations, which were merged subsequently into the Bhruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). During this transition, land records were either destroyed or tampered with, and fake documents were fabricated by corrupt interests. Lakes and their catchment areas were soon transformed into private lands. Builders backfilled these and soon made quick money building apartments, shopping malls, and information technology parks". (7)

The Ways Ahead

The municipal authorities should deal with the legacy of unauthorized constructions and encroachments and remove these to restore wetlands and tank beds, as far as possible. This is a common phenomenon all over the country.

Imbibing a futuristic perspective, the growing cities will have to balance development and environmental protection. They need to develop and implement robust climate protection plans. In this regard, cities must reduce their carbon footprint, strengthen natural defenses such as mangroves and wetlands, audit drainage networks, and protect natural water bottles.

The establishment of Urban Wetlands Commissions to reclaim water bodies, lakes, and rivers, incorporating them as an integral part of city planning is in consonance with the current needs.

It is high time to do away with multiple overlapping authorities and to form a domain authority to coordinate efforts to expand and recharge drainage systems.

A new master plan for the city drainage system should be prepared to keep in view climate change in the long perspective.

Existing laws should be made more stringent in respect to illegal encroachment of municipal lands, in particular, and the authorities must deal with the encroachers swiftly, and impartially. Encroachment on the lakes, ponds, and the wetlands should be dealt with with heavy hands.

Civil society must come forward to raise their voice against illegal encroachments. They should also focus on the development of new and existing water bodies in the city and start acting like natural guardians of such bodies.

The policymakers, while formulating drainage policies, must take into account the possible impact of climate change in the present and future scenarios.

Conclusion

India is currently the fifth most developed economy in the world and is at the cusp of moving further in the near future. There are IT cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and Gurugram. Many middle-class cities are crossing the threshold to enter into the fold of modern cosmopolitan cities. But the problem of inadequate and outdated drainage systems lies everywhere. These systems are very old and are unable to cope with the current situation involving more than normal or unprecedented rainfall. The storm water gets stuck in the lanes of the cities due to illegal encroachment on the lands which used to be the natural outlet of such water. This is high time to react proactively to stave off any unpleasant situations in the future. The lawmakers, municipal authorities, and the civil administration should work hand in hand in the interest of citizens at large. The problem of drainage plaguing the cities must be dealt with in a holistic manner and the scourge of climate change should always be kept in mind.

References:

1. Editorial, Hindustan Times, July 14, 2023.
   
2. Editorial, Hindustan Times, 11.7.2023.
   
3. Editorial, Hindustan Times, 14.7.2023.
4. Editorial, Hindustan Times, 11.7.2023.
5. Editorial, Hindustan Times, 14.7.2023.
6. Editorial, Hindustan Times, 7.9.2022.
   
7. T.R. Raghunandan, The stark reasons why Bengaluru is sinking, The Hindu,10.9.2022.
   

.    .    .