Urban Flooding: A 'Sinking' Reality?
You must have seen these images. People fishing in IT hub Bengaluru when it was flooded, India's Millennium City Gurgaon looking like Venice with flooded streets sans Gondolas, people stranded in Mumbai with rail services disrupted due to rains and cars floating in an inundated Hyderabad. The picture is same everywhere - urban India can't cope up with monsoon rains. Why is it that a country which aspires to be superpower lacks properly planned cities? Why is that in every city the 'natural drainage' system has been destroyed? Why is that every inch of open space, storm-water drains have been encroached upon by illegal construction? Why is it that environmental laws have been bypassed by 'Builder-Babu-Neta' nexus? Are our cities heading towards an urban chaos? Can we as citizens hope to see political will and consensus over 'fixing' our cities?
