Priya Aditi
Delhi flood threat: Year after year, the inundation of India’s roads demonstrates inadequate urban planning; this year is no exception, except that the climate crisis has made the flood fury much more intense.
It has been stated repeatedly that poor drainage maintenance is only a minor cause of this mess, and that the true culprits are planned and unplanned developments that disregard the land profile of the settlements. These developments have become more aggressive, less scientific, and expedient in recent years. The Pragati Maidan and surrounding infrastructure in the center of Delhi is a prime example. In this location, which is mere metres from the Yamuna, waterlogging plagues city traffic. When one realizes that Pragati Maidan was once a wetland in the Yamuna floodplains, this remains one of the most ill-informed decisions.
The majority of master plans in India have imitated Delhi’s structure and standards, making it India’s planning leader. Cities across the nation are inundated during the rainy season, but not for the same reason. Rather, this is due to the multiple ways in which their land profile and hydrology have been neglected by the master plans. Ring roads have become a national ailment, impeding the nation’s surface water flow. In spite of the National Capital Region Planning Board’s hydrological studies conducted decades ago, the city of Delhi is now planning its third ring road. Their suggestions were never implemented.
The geography of Delhi is also well-studied, particularly after a decade of extensive and costly GIS surveys of the terrain. Again, these studies did not influence any development decisions. A society obsessed with speed, fueled by new affluence and an ever-increasing auto industry, justifies the expansion of transportation infrastructure. No political party is courageous enough to make difficult judgments regarding transportation infrastructure, parking, and pollution.
Again, even if futile, we must dare to suggest some measures to reduce public suffering, massive recurring economic losses, and the post-flood health issues confronted by the poor and the wealthy. Continually, the riverbed is being encroached upon by both authorized and unauthorised development. Along the riverbank, massive unauthorized housing encroachments the size of India’s small cities are growing taller and denser. Tunnels and flyovers are proliferating in low-lying areas while a well-intentioned master plan remains unnoticed. Delhi is a large city, and so are the capital’s personalities, development arrogance, and the magnitude of its infrastructure misadventures.
Possibly it is still possible to enhance the city if the authorities make some tough choices. Can we devise a comprehensive plan for water management? The Disaster Management Authority, the NCR Board, the Delhi Development Authority, the Delhi State Government, and the Irrigation Department could collaborate on such a plan. The focus could be on revisiting the master plan calculations for water demand and the GIS-based land analysis, accelerating the Delhi government’s projects for redevelopment of lakes, revisiting waste water recycling to meet at least 50 percent of Delhi’s water requirements, and instituting a ban on development-based invasion of the Yamuna riverbed.
Forget for a moment about vehicular pace and instead concentrate on people, their walkability, and localized drainage plans. While technological advancements have occurred, our planning has remained static and conservative. Such a water-based master plan should be owned by the DDA (Delhi Development Authority), in whose hands the Delhi master plan resides.
India, according to government claims, is the fourth wealthiest nation in the globe. On the majority of initiatives, we have funds for grandiose ambitions, road networks, and pricey hard sells. The private sector has never been a better ally of government agencies. What is required are city-level leaders with a clear vision and the courage to make difficult decisions.
Incalculable are the estimated losses from disasters in city after city. Official estimates never account for the enormous social and health costs that the people, especially the impoverished, incur when their homes and means of subsistence are simultaneously destroyed by floods. Can we continue to take one step forward and two steps back with each monsoon? Enough is sufficient. Now, we need a national strategy to combat flooding. Each city or settlement is susceptible to flooding in various ways. Can a state-wide time-bound action plan begin with an analysis of landform and hydrological characteristics? Since 1988, there has been no national urbanization policy. Can we devise, on the premise of firefighting, a national water management plan that is decentralized and based on local realities (rather than megaprojects such as the concept of river-linking)? Obviously, such a plan cannot address the Himalayan region’s calamities or the impending sea invasions along the coast. These are larger decisions made by centralized organizations. Let’s focus on urban and settlement inundation for the time being. If the local population is actively involved in planning and implementation, this can become a major source of employment. Let’s get serious.
Also read this:Rising Yamuna River water level: Yamuna water level may cross 207.72m; ‘Not good news for Delhi’, says Kejriwal
The author is an urban designer and former director of the urban design department at New Delhi’s School of Planning and Architecture.
