Mumbai rains flooded the city for a week, leaving thousands helpless while building collapsed killing dozens on August 31th. PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP

And the city of Mumbai was hit by another major flooding espisode. Several people have died in the city, many in the collapse of a four-storey building that is believed to have been weakened by the rains.
 

Overcrowded cities

Such loss of life in urban areas is often blamed on India’s overcrowding. Cities are growing at unprecedented rates. From a population of 2.86 million in 1950, Mumbai is now home to more than 21 million people, and is expected to have almost 28 million by 2030.
Built along the coastline on a series of islands, the city is surrounded by water: in mudflats, lakes, creeks, rivers, and the ever-present coastline.

Given the astronomical land prices in many parts of Mumbai, and the extreme scarcity of land, it is no surprise that Mumbai has sacrificed its ecology for development. Real estate projects, industry, and state infrastructure (railways, roads and the city’s airport) have built over, and choked, the city’s water networks at various strategic points. Every monsoon, the city floods.

Mudflats, wetlands, floodplains, mangroves and wooded vegetation once slowed down the flow of storm water. The mangrove’s complex root systems and the branching architecture of trees acted as a natural barrier to reduce the force of water flow. But now, they are built over. Garbage spread everywhere clogs the waterways. Most channels and waterways that connect water bodies have been built over too, resulting preventing streams from easily reaching the sea – forcing it to spread out into the low lying areas of the city, adding to the severe flooding.

Mumbai’s extensive wetlands and mudflats, which had connected parts of the city since the early 19th century, have disappeared. Their presence would retain the rain water and soak it into the ground, recharging the wells and ground water table.

Today, with nothing but concrete all around, the city’s land surface does not allow water to soak into it. In especially intense periods of rain, the devastation is extreme – at least 5000 people are believed to have perished in the infamous floods of 2005, and the economic damage was estimated at 30 billion rupees (US$690m).
 

The need for introspection

After the 2005 floods, a committee constituted by the government investigated the reasons for the devastation, concluding that there was an urgent need to restore Mumbai’s wetlands and water systems. In 2007, the municipality formulated the Greater Mumbai Action Plan, which among other efforts had a major focus on the restoration of the city’s main river, the Mithi, which had become little more than a sewage channel in parts.

Yet around the same time, the chair of the committee overseeing the plan, water expert Madhav Chitale spoke publicly about the lack of progress in implementing its recommendations. He said that the city lacked basic topographic data which were essential to build pathways for rainwater flow – which could have prevented flooding in subsequent rains.

Malad creek, suburban Mumbai, 2010. Ravi Khemka/Flickr, CC BY-SA

In recent years, climate scientists, urban specialists and civic society groups warned repeatedly that Mumbai was heading for another heavy flood. A combination of the greater likelihood of high rainfall events because of climate change, and an even more inadequately prepared city, created a situation ripe for a disaster in the making. These warnings came true this monsoon season.

Mumbai’s planners know that climate change is leading to increased likelihood of extreme rainfall, and that restoration of the city’s wetland, river and floodplain networks is central to flood control. Yet the rush to develop construction projections in the city has often disregarded these factors. Money cannot replace nature in cities. A careful reading of Indian urban history shows that cities have historically grown with nature providing a support system. When this system is eroded – as is seen in so many Indian cities today, including in Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai – the very survival of the city is placed in question.

The story of Mumbai today is a reflection of the ills that plague many Indian cities – and those in other parts of the world as well, such as Miami and Houston. In a wetter future, it is clearer than ever that cities need ecology to grow.

Harini Nagendra, Professor of Sustainability, Azim Premji University
 

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Even as early morning warnings (Tuesday, August 29) warned of a ‘typhoon like situation’, Mumbaikars trudged to work keeping the proverbial work ethic of India’s most buzzing metropolis alive. Heavy monsoon rains however brought India’s financial capital to a halt, with authorities struggling to evacuate people with the scheduled high tide adding to the chaos. The Bombay Municipal Corporation, the richest body in the country, haunted by corruption and red tape apepars to have learnt no lessons from the floods of 2005 when close to 500 persons lost their lives.
Incessant rain flooded several parts of Mumbai on Tuesday and paralysed train services used by millions of commuters daily, with many stranded at stations and hundreds of others walking home through waist-deep water on railway tracks.Poor visibility and flooding also forced airport authorities to divert some flights while most were delayed by up to an hour.

But what provided huge succour was how all faiths, temples, mosques, dargahs and gurudwaras came to people’s rescue. These notifications and warnings give just a glimpse of the compassion still alive and kicking in Mumbai.

Gurudwara Notice

Request everbody to spread this msg to all groups for people who are stranded :-
Note:- our volunteers are in that particular area 
Sion hospital, near Gandhi market, 4 Road, King Circle, Dadar
1. Dadar Gurudwara for food and shelter. Opp chitra cinema 
2. Anywhere in mumbai can go to any gurudwara sahib for food and shelter
For any help contact.  9323567555. MANPREET SINGH KHALSA ! 9022272252 HARNIT SINGH KHALSA
Gurdwara Dashmesh Darbar ready with hot Langar for stranded at GTB nagar Sion Koliwada.
Those stranded near Bandra , Khar  , Santacruz ,Mahim , Sea link … can move towards  * Trupti Bandra * at linking road near Amarsons  … Food , water and tea have been made available.
Ripul 9769238333

Mahim Dargah

*Mahim Dargah* and Mahim Memon Hall has made arrangements for Shelter and Food for people stranded in and around the area of Mahim, Matunga and Bandra.

If anyone needs any help, please contact
Aslam Shaikh – 9821069376
Junaid Baugwala – 9892269786

Regrads,
Suhail Khandwani, Managing Trustee,Peer Makhdum Sahab Charitable Trust

Maximum #Masjids, #Dargah, #Madrasa in and around Railway Stations, Highways, Market, Office Areas, and Corporate Parks in #Mumbai have made arrangements for Shelter and Food for people stranded in that area.

If anyone needs any help, please feel free to reach Masjids and meet Volunteers, Imams and Trustees.
I have personally spoken to atleast 20 Masjids and all of them are open to help people from #ALL #FAITHS..
Few Names:
Chishti Hindustani Masjid, Byculla
Mahim Dargah
Mahim Memon Hall
Dawni Masjid, Nagpada
Bandra Jama Masjid
Millat School Boys, Jogesjwari
Madni Madarsa Masjid, Jogeshwari
Nazarali Imambargah, Kurla
Mehfil e Mustafa, Juhu Kapaswadi
Kesar Baug, Dongri
Shia Jama Masjid-Bada Imambada at Lotus Colony, Govandi (W)
National Market Masjid, Wadala – Kidwai Nagar

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