BENGALURU: The recent floods in north Bengaluru after heavy rain has highlighted poor urban planning. Former Karnataka chief secretary A Ravindra, who was known as the ‘Demolition Man’ in the late 1990s when he was the administrator of then Bangalore Mahanagara Palike for his fight against illegal constructions, spoke to The New Sunday Express on what has gone wrong, and what can be done to set things right.
Excerpts.
What are the factors contributing to flooding in not just urban areas, but across the state?
The causes are both natural and man-made. Heavy rain, landslides and climatic factors constitute natural causes. Factors like urbanisation, deforestation and unscientific construction are some of the man-made reasons. Karnataka has witnessed heavy rainfall in the last two years. In 2019, just one district, Kodagu, experienced over 450% deviation from its normal rainfall, causing enormous damage to life and property. The 2019 Geological Survey of India report pointed out surface cracks caused by trenches dug by the Forest Department leading to infiltration. Across Karnataka, heavy discharge of water from reservoirs following heavy rain, particularly in north Karnataka, led to flooding of towns and villages. In urban areas, indiscriminate land use and construction and encroachments cause flooding. In a city like Bengaluru, encroachment of rajakaluves and buffer zones of lakes and drains result in heavy flooding.
How can urban planning be improved to ensure flooding does not happen or impact lives in future?
Modification of urban design has to be undertaken as part of urban planning. It is a long-term process involving street redesigning, drain control and storm-water containment measures. Plans drawn up in the past for redesigning of SWDs have not been implemented. Poor quality of roads, recurring potholes, non-cleaning of drains only add to the misery. City designing is a comprehensive exercise involving the entire physical infrastructure. Ad-hoc measures are not a permanent solution.
What are the solutions for landscape modification? How can engineers or developers prepare an action plan on landscape engineering in advance to mitigate climatological situations?
Landscape modifications call for certain measures like prevention of fragmentation of forest landscapes. Mindless deforestation leads to reduction in the catchment’s capability to retain water, leading to flooding. The Green India Mission, launched in 2014, aims at protecting, restoring and enhancing India’s forest cover and responding to climate change by both mitigation and adaptation measures. To what extent Karnataka has implemented the required measures is something the government should say. A State Action Plan for Climate Change has also been prepared and it is the responsibility of the state to inform the citizens of the progress made.
Is there any model which can be adopted by Karnataka to ensure there is no flooding or any climatological impact?
There cannot be one uniform model, national or international, to prevent flooding across the country.The topographical conditions, weather patterns and regional variations will have to be taken into consideration. As a matter of general guidance, it can be stated that factors like controlling rampant urbanisation, deforestation, encroachments and unscientific construction play an important role in flood prevention. However, best practices across countries can be studied and lessons can be drawn from them.
Where do you think citizens have failed?
Citizens have failed not only on account of lack of awareness but in their apathy towards protection of nature and proper upkeep of their own neighbourhood and the city or any habitat in general. Are they not responsible for putting up illegal constructions and encroachments? Whether they are developers, organisations or individuals, it is their responsibility in the first place to follow the laws which are meant to protect the environment. The fault lies more with those who are aware of the damage that will be caused by violating nature’s laws, let alone man-made laws. I agree that awareness programmes on the impact of climate change are essential, not only for people, but also for politicians and officials responsible for policy-making and implementation. This responsibility can be shared by the government, academic institutions engaged in the study of relevant issues and NGOs who are working on environmental issues.
Japan frequently redesigns or alters its urban planning designs based on seismic activities. Is a similar alteration needed here in Karnataka?
Japan’s design is more relevant for that country in view of the fact that it is exposed to severe and frequent earthquakes. Moreover, it has evolved over a period of time and they have now developed a very resilient system to tackle earthquakes and other natural disasters. In India, we still have a long way to go. We can perhaps look at what is known as the ‘Sponge City’ concept designed in China where urban flooding is said to have doubled during the last couple of years. A Sponge City is designed to hold, clean and drain water in a natural way, using an ecological approach. The water retained can be used for recharging aquifers, gardening, flushing toilets and for urban forests. A pilot project is said to have been taken up in the city of Wuhan. The details will have to be studied to understand the model and how, if possible, it can be adopted in India.
On our part, we must focus on what is doable in India. Some measures include building a sustainable drainage system, designing permeable pavements and sidewalks. The construction of cement roads in Bengaluru is a wrong step as it prevents permeability and is disastrous to urban environment in the long run. We must also provide a robust flood alert and early warning system, as being done in s
ome coastal states like Odisha to deal with cyclones. Above all, the government and the people must learn to work together to prevent the looming threat posed by climate change.