The Centre has included Pune in its project for Urban Flood Risk Management. The central government has decided to help urban areas that have faced floods disrupting civic life and critical services. It has identified seven cities, including Pune, under the project.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has approved an annual allocation of Rs50 crore for Pune city for the next five years.
As per the 15th Finance Commission for 2021-26, the seven cities selected under the Urban Flood Risk Management include Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
NDMS conducted a one-day workshop with authorities from these cities on September 13 at Delhi.
Ravindra Binwade, additional municipal commissioner, said, “Till 2026, Pune will be getting Rs50 crore every year under the project.”
Ganesh Sonune, head, PMC disaster Management cell, “As urban floods have emerged as a nationwide problem, NDMA has taken the initiative of bringing cities together to discuss various urban flood preparedness and mitigation solutions. Each city would need to develop its own programme as per the guidelines from NDMA. PMC would need to chalk out short and long-term measures under the programme.”
NDMA’s letter states that due to climate change and variability, cyclonic activities are continuously increasing on both the east and west coasts. These activities bring excessive rainfall within a short spell of time, inundating cities. As cities are getting increasingly paved with both infrastructure and residential developments, there is insufficient holding capacity for rainfall they receive. As a result, the level of inundation increases very fast with flash floods.
{{/usCountry}}NDMA’s letter states that due to climate change and variability, cyclonic activities are continuously increasing on both the east and west coasts. These activities bring excessive rainfall within a short spell of time, inundating cities. As cities are getting increasingly paved with both infrastructure and residential developments, there is insufficient holding capacity for rainfall they receive. As a result, the level of inundation increases very fast with flash floods.
{{/usCountry}}NDMA pointed out that though the length of roads and density of construction have increased in the cities, there is no corresponding increase in the length of stormwater drainage. The rivers, lakes and other wetlands in the cities are increasingly encroached upon for construction, reducing the holding capacity for flood waters.
NDMA said that when cities are seriously affected by extreme events, residents look up to the government for protection of their lives, livelihood and services. In view of the scale of issues across cities, urban floods is treated as a national issue.