Time for a 'sponge cities' mission in India

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Time for a 'sponge cities' mission in India

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• The three problems: Mother nature has gone unpredictable, human greed is uncontrolled and urbanisation is rampant. The October 2020 rains in Hyderabad that killed many and destroyed a lot have again brought attention to urban flooding. Five years ago, it was Chennai, and frequently it is Mumbai.
• The scientific tools: In 2010, the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany built a climate change adaptation tool for Hyderabad, but it was never used. Such tools are used by other cities.
• Unprecedented rainfall: In the past five years, the city of Hyderabad has witnessed record-breaking rainfall at some point or the other. But the key point is to focus not on the rains, but on the drainage system. Water discharge doesn't happen in time, and sudden uncontrolled discharge worsens things. 
• Old and antiquated: The drainage system is 100 years old, and covered only a part of core city. The city however kept expanding hugely. The areas that were hit in 2020 were not the ones hit in 1908, 2001 or 2005. The infra just hasn't kept pace.
• Ignoring at our own peril: Society and government are ignoring the role of local communities in managing the local ecosystems like wetlands. These are people with fishing and farming rights. With each year, the problem will increase, and the urban terrains incapable of absorbing, holding and discharging water will worsen it.
• Sponge cities: The idea here is to make cities more permeable so they can hold and use the water that falls upon them. Sponge cities absorb the rain water, which is naturally filtered by the soil and reaches urban aquifers. Then the water can be extracted from the ground through urban wells or peri-urban wells. 
• What will it look like: So cities need to have contiguous open green spaces, interconnected waterways, channels and ponds across neighbourhoods to naturally detain and filter water. Just like India has the AMRUT, the HRIDAY and the Smart Cities Mission, it can start this new mission too.
• What will the new mission do: First is the wetland policy. In most Indian lakes, the shallow ends (that lie beyond full tank levels) have vanished. Land use on the shallow ends needs to be regulated. Second is watershed management and emergency drainage plan. Their detailed documentation is needed by agencies that are not bound by municipal jurisdictions. Drainage plan can be made only by natural boundaries like watersheds, and not artificial boundaries like municipal wards. 
• Terrain alteration: The third objective must be a ban on terrain alteration. Builders and property owners have destroyed cities irreversibly by flattening terrian and altering drainage routes. These need to be banned, as cities are becoming impervious to water. The materials used are hard, non-porous in nature, making the soil impervious. New types of materials and technologies are needed (e.g. bioswales and retention systems, storm water trickling systems, green roofs, harvesting systems)
• Time for change: Instead of blaming history, it is time to take charge in the present, and rebuild our cities, so that the most vulnerable of our citizens are not harmed.

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