New Delhi: The Union Government and Jal Shakti Ministry are worried about the shrinking water bodies due to the spontaneous urbanisation in the country. While several parts, especially, the urban towns are marooned by floods, it witnesses the poor water management by locals as the water bodies have been encroached vigorously in the past three decades according to reports.
The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) which has been responding to flood rescue operations have conducted a survey and said that urban places have been the most flood-prone area in the country due to the increasing buildings.
As the water bodies, lakes have been encroached and vandalised due to the overpopulation and migration, cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Cochin are easily getting marooned.
According to documents accessed by ETV Bharat, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Puducherry and Ahmedabad are the major cities in India where the water bodies are under severe threat.
A data of Ministry of Urban development shared with the Jal Shakti says, “Out of 262 lakes which existed at Bengaluru two decades before, only 10 are remaining now. Ahmedabad had 140 lakes in 1998. But, realtors have encroached around 70 of them,” said in the report.
In the south, Chennai, Hyderabad and Puducherry are also facing the same issue.
Chennai’s Pallikkaranai Marshland - a hotspot for bird species once has turned into a garbage dumping yard.
Also, due to fast urbanisation, Hyderabad has lost around 13,000 acres of wetlands in a decade. Osuteri lake of Puducherry also has been encroached.
Assam is facing the worst floods in the country. It’s capital Guwahati was seen inundated by floodwaters. It is to be noted that Guwahati’s Deepor Peel has now turned into a dumping yard for the municipality.
So, the environmental activists are clearly reasoning that the urban floods are happening only due to the fast urbanisation.
“In 2010, the NDMA had revealed a report that erecting buildings on water bodies is the prime issue for the urban floods. The Ministry for Urban Development had also said that 31% of the country has been urbanised in 2011 and predicted that would reach 50% in 2050. However, the urbanisation rate would go high further. If we fail to prevent the rapid concretisation on water bodies, it will make more disasters to the communities in future,” said a report of an environment protection NGO.
When asked about these situations, a senior official with Jal Shakti said it can be prevented only by the cooperation of people.
“Our groundwater is depleting fast. On the other hand, we have been often facing the flood. The government has been reiterating people not to encroach the water bodies as it is more dangerous than anything. Urban Development Ministry, Jal Shakti Ministry and local body departments are ready to join hands to avert these floods,” said the officer.
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