{"id":78506,"date":"2026-07-07T18:23:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T12:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=78506"},"modified":"2026-07-07T18:23:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T12:53:52","slug":"urban-flood-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-07-2026\/urban-flood-resilience","title":{"rendered":"Reimagining Urban Infrastructure for Flood Resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance, GS3\/Environment, GS3\/Disaster Management<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The heavy rainfall in Mumbai has once again exposed the vulnerability of Indian cities to urban flooding, highlighting the need to redesign urban infrastructure to absorb rainwater in a climate-resilient manner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Urban Flooding?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Urban flooding is defined as a<strong> frequent phenomenon<\/strong> in urban areas where water runoff from impermeable surfaces, such as concrete structures, leads to flooding, particularly during prolonged rainfall.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This type of flooding is exacerbated by rapid urban development, poor flood management, and encroachment onto flood-prone areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why Are Indian Cities Vulnerable to Urban Flooding?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Disrupted Hydrological Systems: <\/strong>The urban expansion has disrupted natural hydrological networks like rivers, creeks, wetlands, lakes, salt pans, and floodplains that traditionally absorbed rainwater.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Loss of Permeable Surfaces: <\/strong>The replacement of open spaces and soil with concrete roads, pavements, and buildings has reduced groundwater recharge and increased surface runoff.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Drainage Systems:<\/strong> Many Indian cities are dependent on conventional storm-water drainage systems that are inadequate to handle short-duration but high-intensity rainfall events associated with climate change.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>In Mumbai,<\/strong> the drainage network largely relies on gravity to discharge water into the sea.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate Change:<\/strong> Rising global temperatures have increased the frequency and intensity of <strong>extreme rainfall events<\/strong>, making urban flooding more frequent even in cities with improved drainage infrastructure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Solutions to Mitigate Urban Flooding<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Upgrading and maintaining stormwater drainage infrastructure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Protecting and restoring wetlands, lakes, and natural waterways.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Promoting green infrastructure: rain gardens, green roofs, permeable pavements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implementing urban planning policies to prevent construction on flood-prone areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Rainwater harvesting and better solid waste management.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Steps taken by India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban): <\/strong>While primarily focused on sanitation, this mission also emphasizes solid waste management and pollution control, which contribute to preventing waterlogging and flooding.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Smart Cities Mission: <\/strong>It promotes the measures to manage urban flooding through rainwater harvesting, green spaces and proper drainage system.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT):<\/strong>The Mission focuses on development of basic infrastructure, in the cities and towns, in the sectors of water supply; sewerage and septage management; storm water drainage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Guidelines and Regulations: <\/strong>The government has issued guidelines for sustainable urban development, encouraging the incorporation of features like permeable pavements, green roofs, and retention ponds to enhance water absorption.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Ministry of Housing &amp; Urban Affairs (MoHUA) <\/strong>has formulated <strong>Model Building Bye Laws (MBBL), 2016<\/strong> for the States\/UTs.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As per MBBL, all buildings having a plot size of <strong>100 sq.m.<\/strong> or more shall mandatorily include the complete proposal of rainwater harvesting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The National Water Policy (2012) <\/strong>advocates that the conservation of rivers, river corridors, water bodies and infrastructure should be undertaken in a scientifically planned manner through community participation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jal Shakti Abhiyan: <\/strong>It aims to harvest the monsoon rainfall through creation of artificial recharge structures, watershed management, recharge and reuse structures, intensive afforestation and awareness generation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>MoHUA has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs)<\/strong> on Urban Flooding in 2017 and published manual on <strong>Storm Water Drainage Systems, 2019 <\/strong>to assist the States\/ Union Territories (UTs), Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and other stakeholders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Global Best Practices Related to Mitigating Urban Flooding<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>China&#8217;s Sponge City Policy: <\/strong>Following the devastating <strong>Beijing floods of 2012<\/strong>, China adopted the Sponge City approach to improve the water retention capacity of urban areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Netherlands&#8217; Blue-Green Infrastructure:<\/strong> It is an integrated network of natural and engineered systems that manage rainwater while improving urban resilience and environmental quality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Singapore<\/strong>, a global leader in <strong>managing urban flooding despite its high rainfall and dense urban environment.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>What are \u2018sponge cities\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The term \u201csponge cities\u201d is used to describe <strong>urban areas with abundant natural areas such as trees, lakes and parks<\/strong> or other good design intended to absorb rain and prevent flooding.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is designed to make greater use of lower-impact \u201cnature-based solutions\u201d to better distribute water and improve drainage and storage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It includes the use of <strong>permeable asphalt, the construction of new canals and ponds<\/strong> and also the<strong> restoration of wetlands,<\/strong> which would not only ease waterlogging, but also improve the urban environment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges Before Indian Cities<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Continued encroachment<\/strong> upon wetlands, lakes, and floodplains.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Unplanned urbanisation<\/strong> and extensive concretisation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limited adoption<\/strong> of nature-based solutions in urban planning.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fragmented institutional responsibilities<\/strong> for water and land management.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Integrating natural ecosystems with urban planning is necessary for a sustainable and climate-resilient approach to flood management.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Combine engineering solutions, smart planning, real-time tech, and community involvement to build flood-resilient cities will mitigate the concern of Urban Flooding in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/opinion\/columns\/imtiaz-alis-main-vaapas-aaunga-murder-lohagad-love-10772446\/?ref=infinite\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong> IE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The heavy rainfall in Mumbai has once again exposed the vulnerability of Indian cities to urban flooding, highlighting the need to redesign urban infrastructure to absorb rainwater in a climate-resilient manner. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> What is Urban Flooding? <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Urban flooding is defined as a frequent phenomenon in urban areas where water runoff from impermeable surfaces, such as concrete structures, leads to flooding, particularly during prolonged rainfall.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> This type of flooding is exacerbated by rapid urban development, poor flood management, and encroachment onto flood-prone areas. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-07-2026\/urban-flood-resilience \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78506"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78508,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78506\/revisions\/78508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}