Urban flooding is no longer a seasonal surprise but a predictable outcome of poor stormwater drainage planning, construction, and maintenance. While crores are spent on building and upgrading stormwater drain networks, there is often little transparency or citizen oversight in how these assets are managed. This masterclass sits at the intersection of these two trajectories: a legacy of infrastructural stress and neglect, and a growing urgency to rethink how urban water systems function and are governed. Drawing from Bengaluru’s context and global examples, the session introduces how cities around the world are rethinking the fundamentals of stormwater management to adapt…

For over two decades, residents along Chennai's Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) have been fed a steady diet of promises about piped water supply. From desalination plants to reservoirs, successive governments have announced grand projects that would finally quench the IT corridor's thirst. Yet, as of January 2026, OMR residents are still struggling with inadequate piped water and are forced to rely on expensive private tankers or depleted groundwater that grows more brackish each year. The original promise It began with hope. In July 2004, the then Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, announced central government support for a desalination plant near Chennai.…