To treat Bengaluru floods as an isolated case would be an urban planning mistake as every major city requires a comprehensive climate action plan.
To treat Bengaluru floods as an isolated case would be an urban planning mistake as every major city requires a comprehensive climate action plan.
Recent floods in Bangalore passed paralyzed the technological backbone of the city, Bindu is taken home with viral images of some of the city’s most influential people being rescued by underwater tractors and lavish villas. Unfortunately, photographs of adverse weather events are becoming commonplace in India to bring a city to its knees, with the concerned urban authorities finding themselves unprepared every time a new disaster strikes.
Similar scenes have been played in Delhi (2013, 2021), Mumbai (2005, 2017), Chennai (2015, 2021), and Hyderabad (2020), leaving behind extensive damage to property and life. In terms of losses, Mumbai reportedly suffered a loss of ₹14,000 crore between 2005 and 2015, while the figure for Chennai was an estimated ₹15,000 crore in 2015 alone. With this are added social and human costs, which almost always disproportionately affect the poorer sections of society as they live in more environmentally vulnerable areas. Even in the case of Bengaluru, while the media mainly focused on the disruption caused by the information technology industry, many informal settlements were also destroyed.
Piece Solutions, Old Masterplan
These incidents are usually met with knee-jerk reactions and politically motivated accusations. River/rival clean-up measures, anti-encroachment campaigns and storm water network projects are often proposed by the concerned administrators to please the public and the media.
The ₹900-crore project was announced by the Karnataka government in November 2021 after the Bengaluru floods last year. Now after the recent floods, the municipality has ordered an anti-encroachment drive. While these measures are not ineffective, they are the best solutions to systemic problems arising from the lack of climate awareness in the planning process. Unfortunately, the lack of climate mitigation measures in urban planning and uncontrolled urban sprawl make the next disaster all the more likely.
Bengaluru has no master plan to govern its development since 2015 and is unlikely to receive a new one before 2025. Across India, 65% of urban settlements do not have a master plan. Where these exist, they usually do not address environmental protection issues or talk of climate change mitigation. Despite state governments lacking the capacity and bandwidth to undertake this exercise (reported in 2021 by NITI Aayog), the powers to prepare master plans remain with state governments, with city governments restricted to ‘stakeholders’ without much authority. become. While some city administrations have developed drainage/flood mitigation plans, they have no statutory backing such as a master plan.
The Drainage Master Plan for Delhi was prepared 46 years ago in 1976, and a new plan is currently being implemented. In the case of Bengaluru, the drainage lines are significantly different from those mapped by the municipality, as per the 2015 master plan. The responsibility of maintaining these and lakes is divided among at least 12 agencies/departments at the state and city level. No wonder town planning and administration has become a nightmare.
flaws in the action plan
In the past few years, city administrations such as Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Nagpur (among others) have started adopting climate action plans. The Mumbai plan is particularly ambitious, covering all aspects of the city’s environment – from flooding to air pollution – and aligns itself with the larger national goal of net-zero emissions. However, since the scheme lacks any statutory backing, it does not prescribe any regulatory controls and comes across as a series of recommended measures that can be adopted by the officials/citizens. This significant drawback is likely to render it toothless. Finally, these schemes are generally an expert-driven effort without a significant element of public participation. This further reduces the credibility of the scheme. The lack of citizen consultation results in a greater focus on proposals such as removal of encroachments – which disproportionately affect the poor – rather than focusing on other mitigation measures that can be adopted.
Processes need to be institutionalized
What is needed is a comprehensive climate action plan for all major Indian cities and given statutory backing by bringing these plans under the purview of the city master plan. It will also institutionalize processes such as public consultation within the process of planning. In addition to giving it credibility in the face of administrative and political opposition, the consultation will be effective in highlighting the issues of disadvantaged neighborhoods – which are often overlooked by media narratives and decision-making bodies.
In addition, there is a need for an environmental protection agency to actively deal with issues related to climate change. To enable coordinated action, this agency would need to be modeled as a comprehensive body on the lines of the Integrated Transport Authority constituted by various cities. Unless we address India’s urban planning issues on priority, the country’s uncontrolled urban sprawl will only make the next disaster more probable. even more destructive.
Venkat Jayagopi is with Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC). Venika Menon with Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC)