Let’s Make Room For The River

Context: The floods in Europe are a wake­up call for us to adopt the Dutch mantra, ‘live with water, build with nature’.

Reasons for rising floods: The cause of the floods is attributed to climate change. Experts say the more CO2 the world emits into the atmosphere, the warmer will be the air temperature. 

• Warmer air holds more moisture and results in excess rainfall, which leads to flooding. 
• Additionally, increasing temperatures at the poles result in slower movement of storms in the mid­latitudes. As a result, storms linger longer at a specific place. 
• The combination of a slow-moving storm and the presence of surplus moisture in the atmosphere results in intense rainfall in one location within a short period of time. 
• In 2018, Kerala, for example, witnessed 414 mm of rain in just three days between August 15 and 17.

The Dutch model of flood prevention:

• The Dutch have gone beyond their conventional dependence on dikes, dams, walls and gates to protect themselves from floods. Their current disaster resilience mantra is to live with water, build with nature and make room for the river.
• They champion creating adequate space for rivers to overflow by protecting floodplains from human interference, deepening river­ beds and creating alternate channels for excess water.

Way Forward: The floods in Europe serve as a wake­up call to us in India to adopt pragmatic policies and practices that are nature friendly.

• Concretise flood management: Adopting Dutch practices - 
  • Flood prone areas should be identified, and projects initiated on an urgent basis to create room for rivers. 
  • Drains must be built for diverting water into storage units like low lying areas (playgrounds etc.)
  • The United Nations Development Programme­ World Bank­ European Union Post Disaster Needs Assessment report prepared for Kerala after the 2018 floods pointed out that the drainage capacity of the rivers and canals of the State must be increased by creating more room for the water.
  • Removing obstructions and encroachments from existing water channels and ensure the proper maintenance of such channels.
• Strengthened disaster readiness, planning and preparation: This will help us deal with sudden, intense rain and consequent floods.
  • While the advanced flood warning system of Germany did forecast heavy rains and the possibility of floods, but local authorities were unable to respond rapidly enough.
  • There is a need for a higher degree of coordination and preparation across all levels of government. Practice drills need to be conducted in flood­prone areas.