Category: Infrastructure

When the northeast monsoon hits Chennai, a foreseeable result of the heavy downpour is severe flooding in several areas, including Porur Lake. As residents living near this 200-acre water body battle inundation every year, our team set out to investigate the root causes of flooding using available data. Environmental issues have often been dealt with a one-size-fits-all approach, but our study aimed to provide specific solutions tailored to the Porur catchment area. For this, we mapped inundation patterns, land gradient, land use change and the outlay of stormwater drains (SWDs).   At a recent datajam organised by the Oorvani Foundation…

As the monsoon continues to wreak havoc in Mumbai, residents of Appa Pada, living along the slopes of the Malad hillocks within the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), are among the worst affected. As soon as the rainy season begins, they find eviction notices pasted on their doors. The Forest Department also erects banners warning residents to vacate the area because of monsoon-related hazards. These notices seem to absolve the government of any responsibility in the event of an accident.   Appa Pada continues to be susceptible to landslides, posing danger to the hillock’s inhabitants. Despite this, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation…

Every time the city floods, which is every year, Mumbaikars find their own ways to deal with it. Despite preventive measures by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), such as desilting storm water drains or making underground water storage tanks, besides putting up pumping machines, floods continue to be a monsoon routine for Mumbai. Rich or poor, slum dwellers or high risers, there is no escaping the impact of floods on the lives and livelihoods of Mumbaikars. And as we saw in our earlier story, those who have their homes on the periphery of rivers like Dahisar are often the worst…