Vigorous monsoon has left some cities in shambles. Better civic planning is need of hour
The levels of unpreparedness during the annual monsoon season among Indian civic authorities is abysmal. Insufficient cleanings of drains, inadequate pruning of overburdened trees, dug up roads, the list is woes is long for the citizens. While the severity of the rains can be termed as an ‘act of God’, the mess and deluge is certainly man-made. Mankind might have progressed a long way but short and medium-term weather forecasts are still ethereal. Therefore, events like the cloudburst that inundated Mumbai on July 26, 2005, cannot be predicted, but it does not take a genius to predict that it will rain, and heavily, in India during the monsoons and that the civic authorities should be better planned for the rains. While the authorities in Mumbai did dramatically spruce up their act after the unprecedented deluge of 2005, other cities have just made small improvements. With a lack of coordination between bodies matters only get worse. Delhi has it the worst, with five independent municipal bodies, the State Government-run Public Works Department and a police force under the Central Government.
Incessant digging and constant construction across the city make for utter traffic chaos with competing agencies refusing to take responsibility. Every year, water collects at the base of several flyovers in the city and brings traffic to a standstill, these are known congestion points and have been so for years, but despite plans traffic comes to a standstill. In addition, various court orders and instructions by the National Green Tribunal which make pruning and cutting overburdened old trees impossible make matters even worse. So the city, like tens of other cities across the country suffers a cardiac arrest with economic activity nearly stopping, thanks to the rains. Worse still with collapsed trees, damaged roads and flooded buses even what passes as normal rainfall can be devastating.
Weather scientists tell us that there are increasing cases of extreme weather, but for the large part the monsoons are not an ‘extreme’ weather situation in India and planning for the rainy season should not be limited to farmers but also our civic authorities. Unfortunately, many civic officials across the country have spent years lining their pockets instead of taking care of the civic facilities. Year after year, it is the same picture. Jam, chaos and confusion. If India is to progress rapidly, its cities cannot come to a halt during the monsoons. Sure, heavy rains will slow things down and there will be some amount of traffic jams and waterlogging, but better planning and preparedness can ensure that the monsoons do not lead to an economic blackout. The Government is making several ‘Smart Cities’ across India, we hope they start with better civic planning.