Rain Rain Come Again????

Monsoon and Waterlogging goes hand in hand in any part of City in India. Even though our Country is rain-fed country and our agriculture economy is dependent on rain, then also, every year as monsoon arrives in India, we can see a big hue and cry going on each and every channel and newspaper on how waterlogging and flood is devastating people’s life. In so many years not proper effort is being made by the people and the government on conserving this rainwater whose abundance for 2-3 months becomes a problem and then we keep  on crying scarcity of water in the country throughout the year.

At present around 9 states are fighting flood disaster in the country. Out of which the most surprising are cities and villages of Rajasthan.

Though I am not a technical expert but these water logging situation strikes every mindful Indian how come flood occurs in so many cities and towns at a time. A few days back there was hue and cry all around the country of low and scanty rainfall and suddenly 9 states are floating. Is there something we are missing?

Just a few observations which struck me and can be one of the reasons for rain turning to waterlog/floods are:

1. ·         Our city planning. As our population is increasing, the need for shelter has destroyed the drainage system plans. People have occupied the area found empty in and around the drainage area and slowly filled it up for their convenience.
2. ·         And in the majority of villages, no drainage plans or system exists at all.
3. ·         Same has been done in ignorance by government agencies responsible for repair and maintenance of roads and sewage lines. They cover all the inlets of drainage as there is no one to oversee the work when going on.
4. ·         Nor even the people are responsible enough, they cover the drainage line outside their home so that their home campus looks neat and clean not understanding they are breaking the whole sewage system
5. ·          Or throw garbage on drains, and thus the drains are overloaded with plastics and other heavy garbage, and not able to let the water move and flood the area.
6. ·         One of the other reasons can be cementing of lands for housing purposes. Due to which the seeping capacity of the land is decreasing and turning the area as waterlogged.
7. ·         The water bodies like ponds, wells, and lakes have been filled by the people to use it for their residence, where excess rainwater used to collect in past years thus saving the area from flooding.
8. ·         Lack of creating water reservoirs on a personal level, which can be later used in household.

In states like Rajasthan which were supposed to be drought proned and receive scanty rain suddenly gets flooded. It also can be seen positively as the area has been well planted with trees and thus resulting to weather change and area turning to rain-fed area, but it also shows how weak we have become in our civic planning. It also shows we being the heirs of Harapppa and Mohen jo daro, have forgotten our civic sense though we are much modernized than they were. We all have studied how systematic their city plan was and how well built and maintained their drainage system was, but in this modern era, we all have forgotten those civic plannings as we have become very self-centered. When we build our home, we keep in mind our internal drainage system, but forget the maintenance of public drainage system, nor do we bother to remind the public who is not maintaining it. Many places lacking public drainage system at all, people have formed their own small drain outlets and thus resulting in water getting logged in different places. It is also a surprise that in my region where the public is conscious, the waterlogging was overcome. While in other areas especially in small Galis(streets) and overpopulated areas where people have barged in footpath or drainage area, the area noticed waterlogging, slowly turning to flood after 3-4 hours of rain.

    In our area we make it point to clear all the drainage points as monsoon starts, we do not allow people to throw garbage on drainage line, and most important, while repair and maintenance were going on in our area we did not allow the drainage outlet to be covered with stone but asked to put stones with holes that were made to cover drains so that water can flow through it.  Majority of people all over India thinks it’s not their duty to see what roads construction and maintenance people are doing and ignore it, but NO, we need to understand, roads, its repairs, and maintenance are being done for us, and its being done from our hard-earned taxed money. So to get it right is our Right. We as a citizen need to get responsible in  our deeds towards the maintenance of places we live and in our civic sense too. After the country is ours, the city is ours, the area is ours, and the government is BY THE PEOPLE and FOR THE PEOPLE and not a separate agency.

            

The Systematic plans Indus Valley Culture

City Layout Of Mohenjodaro