The expansion of cities is considered a symbol of development, but when the same expansion is immersed in water in the knees in the first heavy rains of the monsoon, this development becomes an irony. Many so-called smart cities of India: such as Gurugram, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, every year, there are reports of waterlogging, traffic jams and life being disturbed during the rainy season. The reason is clear: rapid urbanization, concrete plenty of concrete and bad drainage system. Statistics show that waterlogging is a common problem during monsoon in more than 80 cities out of 100 smart cities in India. As an example, property worth about Rs 8,000 crore was damaged in 2022 heavy rains in Bengaluru. This happened when Bengaluru is considered to be the model of the country’s tech hub and smart planning. In fact, when cities are planned, a superficial view is often adopted regarding the drainage of rain water! The width of the drainage drains is kept low, the old drainage system is not updated and no concrete arrangements are made to re -use rainwater. As a result, a little heavy rain also makes the roads a river and the infrastructure starts collapsing. This irony increases further when the concept of smart city is done in the name of better life, environmental balance and technical efficiency. Obviously, the problem is not only about rain, but also our plan and priorities.
The problem of waterlogging in cities is not only related to the failure of the drainage system, but also to the changing nature of land use and urban geography. Malls, societies and roads built by cutting natural waterways and lakes prevent rainwater flow. For example, one of the main reasons for the 2015 fierce floods in Chennai was that in the last two decades, the city has offered more than 650 water structures – lakes, ponds and canals, concrete construction. According to a report by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), 40–60% of rainwater flows into sewer in many cities of India, while it could be collected and a solution of water scarcity could be made. The situation becomes more frightening when the municipal corporations neither plan for regular cleaning of drainage nor political will to remove encroachments. It is often seen that drains are completely jammed by plastic and debris, and an emergency cleaning campaign is run to show off just before the monsoon. In this era of technology and data analytics, when we can track from traffic movement to the weight of waste, no concrete arrangement to map the direction and pressure of rain water highlights our priorities. This irony is also worth noting that crores of costs have been spent in smart city projects, but even a small part of the investment did not go towards ‘Water Sensitive Urban Planning’. In such a situation, not a rebellion of water, disregarding it is real culprit.
The Government of India started the ‘Smart City Mission’ in 2015 with great vigor, under which a target was to make 100 cities technically advanced, environmentally-sensitive and more convenient for citizens. Under this scheme, every city was allocated crores of rupees, which was also said to give prominence to water management and rainwater withdrawal. But the ground reality is quite different from this. According to the Smart City Progress Report (2023), only 8% of the total 7,800 projects were projects that were associated with drainage or water conservation. The rest of the funds were spent on projects such as roads, Wi-Fi zones, and LED lights. For example, a cycle track and e-governance system were developed in Bhopal Smart City at a cost of crores of rupees, but the main market area in the monsoon is submerged in water every year. On the other hand, schemes such as the ‘Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation’ (AMRUT) worked to improve water pipeline and sewerage to some extent, but did not showing seriousness about widespread drainage reconstruction and water recycling. Many municipal bodies do not have technical staff of engineering and planning which can assess rainwater flow. In addition, smart city projects were often evaluated superficially, in which problems such as rainwater crisis or waterlogging were ignored as just “incidence”. The government decided the direction, but its implementation on the ground was incomplete, mismatched and weak.
While the other other developed countries have seen urban water management not only for infrastructure, but also from the point of view of environmental balance and social security. Singapore is an excellent example of this, where the structure of collecting, purifying and reusing rainwater has been created under “Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters” (ABC Waters) program. In every major project in the city, ‘water sensitive urban design’ is mandatory, from the pavement to the parking zone such a design that water can be absorbed or stored in the land. The Netherlands has considered water management to be the issue of its national existence and in the cities there are plans like ‘Floating Neighborhoods’, which keep floating on water in flood conditions. Tokyo started a giant “G-Cans Project” for ground water harvesting, in which hundreds of million gallons of water are collected in underground tunnels during heavy rains. China implemented the ‘Sponge City’ scheme in recent years, in which cities are being designed in such a way that they can absorb rain water, store and leave it back at needs: such as natural sponges work. The efforts of these countries are based on the idea that water should not be removed as enemies, but should be handed over as friends. Rainfall drainage in them does not only mean extracting water, but also to make it useful. A country like India will have to learn from these successful models and adopt smart, sustainable and practical solutions in its local context, otherwise every rain will continue to turn into a new disaster.
If India really has to move towards smart monsoon management with smart cities, then first rainwater will have to be seen as ‘West’, not as ‘Resource’. In the planning of cities, the system of preserving rainwater, sending it to the recharge zone and re -use will have to be made mandatory. For this, the “Rain Water Harvesting” system will have to be applied to the land, not just in the books of laws – with strictness and monitoring. Schools, malls, government buildings and apartments should be made accountable for this and the municipal corporation should audit it from time to time. In addition, traditional drainage systems such as lakes, drains and Johar, which were terminated in the race for urbanization, should be revived. The government should give high priority to water management and drainage systems in its budget allocation, only roads and digital boards do not make the city smart. It is possible from the GIS and AI based monitoring system that before every rain, it can be found out in which areas there is a possibility of water logging and already there can be a relief team or means of drainage. By making schools and local bodies a part of the water consciousness campaign, it can be understood among the citizens that their small negligence: such as throwing garbage in the drains, can become a problem for an entire city. India needs a consolidated, long -term and science -based plan, not only ‘projects’, but the goal of a sustainable lifestyle.
The tragedy that comes with rain every year has now become a permanent reality, which is a direct proof of the failure of our urban model. It has become a vicious cycle! In the name of development in cities, greenery and water structures are ending, leading to increasing incidents like waterlogging and floods, and then crores are spent on emergency management to deal with these disasters. Until this cycle will not be broken at policy, structural and social level, every year the monsoon will continue to open the hollow claims of our ‘smart cities’. The accountability of the government or the municipal corporation is not enough to overcome this crisis, but citizens also have to understand that they are part of this problem and solution. Small efforts such as rainwater harvesting on roofs, cuts in plastic use, awareness in garbage management, and maintenance of local water bodies can also have collective effects. If we want the next generation to see the monsoon as a celebration, not like a tragedy, then we have to adopt long -term thinking from now on. Not only infrastructure, we also have to make our monsoon attitude ‘smart’. India not only has the legacy of ancient water culture, but also the ability of modern technology, only needs to combine both of these together, to coordinate policy, technology and social consciousness. This is the only way from which we can bring our cities out of the monsoon havoc and bring them into balance with water.