India is among the highly flood-prone countries in the world and floods are most common and widespread of all other natural disasters. The rivers of India make it more dangerous during the monsoon season, which causes floods, landslide and debris fall. The heavy rains resulted in large flash floods in India frequently.
It will happen again, sooner rather than later. Urgent action is needed to protect the area’s vulnerable people.
It is not unusual to have flash floods in the Himalayas; history shows floods have been common for at least 1000 years.
But what we’re seeing is the interval between two extreme events is now shortening. The flood events are getting much closer. The Himalayas are projected to receive more monsoon rain as the climate warms. Combined with extra glacier melt, flooding will worsen. In last few years, northern India suffered severe floods.
2012 Assam Flood
•One more time Assam faced the heavy rainfall, 124 people died and 13 elephants and 500 more animals died from Kaziranga National park which is well known National park of India.
2013 Uttarakhand Flood
•People who visited Kedarnath and Badrinath tourist spot around 1000 people died and more than 5700 people missing, moreover Indian Army took a charge to rescue affected one, they strictly handled the rescue operation.
2014 Jammu and Kashmir Flood
•Continuous rainfall in Kashmir and reached dangerous condition, about 138 people soul rest in peace and 11,000 people lost their daily needs of life in the floods.
The heavy rainfall brought floods to the South also. From October to December each year, a very large area of South India, including Tamil Nadu, the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Pondicherry, receives up to 30 percent of its annual rainfall from the northeast monsoon (or winter monsoon). In addition, unplanned and often illegal urban development has led to many wetlands and natural sinks being built over; this, along with aging civic infrastructure and poorly designed drainage systems, has resulted in an increased frequency of severe flooding.
2015 super flood in Chennai
Climate change is not the only guilty party for the recent floods in Chennai. The scale of the disaster was magnified by a rampant disregard for town planning. The planning distortions of contemporary Chennai show that the state can take it too far, especially when it is attempting to meet the demands of a growing population and a competitive economic climate. With increasing competitive pressures on states, land and natural resources become pliable reserves for meeting the exacting demands of national and international capital. But recent events in Chennai are a reminder that nature is flexible only to a point. It does strike back. The city of Chennai a coastal metropolis of 8.7m people and capital of India’s Tamil Nadu region has been flooded by an extreme weather event. The city experienced incessant rain, in what has been its wettest November for over a century: December 1 broke local records, with 490mm of rainfall.
The results have been catastrophic: the Adyar and Cooum rivers overflowed, 35 major lakes breached their banks and large parts of the city – including the international airport – were submerged. Schools and hospitals were shut down, electricity and electronic networks were unavailable for days, and life was turned upside down not just for residents, but also for flagship IT and automobile companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Cognizant, Yamaha, Renault-Nissan and BMW India.
The confirmed death toll from the flooding is 270 and rising, and a trade body has estimated that monetary losses will be in the region of Indian Rupees 15,000 crores (£1.5 billion).
It is widely believed that Chennai’s misery was brought on by climate change and that such extreme weather events are going to increase in frequency and impact. World leaders have blamed the event on global warming, even as the COP21 climate change conference plays out as expected in Paris. As the climate battles rage in the natural and political worlds, Chennai represents the human dimensions of disaster.
As Chennai emerges from the water and takes a fresh look at itself, poorer residents and slum settlers will probably be the first to be evicted, in order to free up illegally acquired space for development. But if the city teaches us one lesson, it is that we are in this together. We are reaping what we have shown as consumers, voters, homeowners – not to mention the role of politicians, government officials and private companies. To pass the blame would be as shortsighted as world leaders blaming each other for climate change.
Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and local assessments have indicated that extreme rainfall events will likely increase in frequency by the end of the 21st century. The consequences of deforestation and changing land use on the risk and severity of flooding are subjects of discussion. With natural forest cover the flood duration should decrease. Reducing the rate of deforestation should improve the incidents and severity of floods. Some methods of flood control like-Dam, Self-closing flood barrier, River defenses, and Coastal defenses can be constructed to minimize damage. The Netherlands has one of the best flood control systems in the world and new ways to deal with water are constantly being developed and tested, such as the underground storage of water. This flood control technology can serve as examples to other countries facing similar problems.
The most sustainable way of reducing risk is to prevent further development in flood prone areas and old waterways are to develop a comprehensive Floodplain Management plan. In particular, the monitoring mechanisms and a regional modeling in the region are needed to create a better communication system that can warn communities about floods.
But despite these attempts nothing concrete happened. Still, there were plans for more buildings encroaching the river, thus the city face floods again and again.
•People who visited Kedarnath and Badrinath tourist spot around 1000 people died and more than 5700 people missing, moreover Indian Army took a charge to rescue affected one, they strictly handled the rescue operation.
2014 Jammu and Kashmir Flood
•Continuous rainfall in Kashmir and reached dangerous condition, about 138 people soul rest in peace and 11,000 people lost their daily needs of life in the floods.
The heavy rainfall brought floods to the South also. From October to December each year, a very large area of South India, including Tamil Nadu, the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Pondicherry, receives up to 30 percent of its annual rainfall from the northeast monsoon (or winter monsoon). In addition, unplanned and often illegal urban development has led to many wetlands and natural sinks being built over; this, along with aging civic infrastructure and poorly designed drainage systems, has resulted in an increased frequency of severe flooding.
2015 super flood in Chennai
Climate change is not the only guilty party for the recent floods in Chennai. The scale of the disaster was magnified by a rampant disregard for town planning. The planning distortions of contemporary Chennai show that the state can take it too far, especially when it is attempting to meet the demands of a growing population and a competitive economic climate. With increasing competitive pressures on states, land and natural resources become pliable reserves for meeting the exacting demands of national and international capital. But recent events in Chennai are a reminder that nature is flexible only to a point. It does strike back. The city of Chennai a coastal metropolis of 8.7m people and capital of India’s Tamil Nadu region has been flooded by an extreme weather event. The city experienced incessant rain, in what has been its wettest November for over a century: December 1 broke local records, with 490mm of rainfall.
The results have been catastrophic: the Adyar and Cooum rivers overflowed, 35 major lakes breached their banks and large parts of the city – including the international airport – were submerged. Schools and hospitals were shut down, electricity and electronic networks were unavailable for days, and life was turned upside down not just for residents, but also for flagship IT and automobile companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Cognizant, Yamaha, Renault-Nissan and BMW India.
The confirmed death toll from the flooding is 270 and rising, and a trade body has estimated that monetary losses will be in the region of Indian Rupees 15,000 crores (£1.5 billion).
It is widely believed that Chennai’s misery was brought on by climate change and that such extreme weather events are going to increase in frequency and impact. World leaders have blamed the event on global warming, even as the COP21 climate change conference plays out as expected in Paris. As the climate battles rage in the natural and political worlds, Chennai represents the human dimensions of disaster.
As Chennai emerges from the water and takes a fresh look at itself, poorer residents and slum settlers will probably be the first to be evicted, in order to free up illegally acquired space for development. But if the city teaches us one lesson, it is that we are in this together. We are reaping what we have shown as consumers, voters, homeowners – not to mention the role of politicians, government officials and private companies. To pass the blame would be as shortsighted as world leaders blaming each other for climate change.
Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and local assessments have indicated that extreme rainfall events will likely increase in frequency by the end of the 21st century. The consequences of deforestation and changing land use on the risk and severity of flooding are subjects of discussion. With natural forest cover the flood duration should decrease. Reducing the rate of deforestation should improve the incidents and severity of floods. Some methods of flood control like-Dam, Self-closing flood barrier, River defenses, and Coastal defenses can be constructed to minimize damage. The Netherlands has one of the best flood control systems in the world and new ways to deal with water are constantly being developed and tested, such as the underground storage of water. This flood control technology can serve as examples to other countries facing similar problems.
The most sustainable way of reducing risk is to prevent further development in flood prone areas and old waterways are to develop a comprehensive Floodplain Management plan. In particular, the monitoring mechanisms and a regional modeling in the region are needed to create a better communication system that can warn communities about floods.
But despite these attempts nothing concrete happened. Still, there were plans for more buildings encroaching the river, thus the city face floods again and again.
