What are the causes of Urban Flooding ?

Urban Flooding has been a cause of concern throughout the world. The major cause of Urban Flooding is the lack of city planning. Unplanned urbanization has been a detrimental factor especially in places that are heavily populated. Heavy rains and overflowing of rivers cannot be held accountable as this is completely man made. The drainage system is overburdened thus the flow of water becomes uncontrollable. Protocols are not followed with respect to construction of buildings.

When natural topography is not understood and respected, urban flooding becomes inevitable. This also has to do a lot with migration of people from villages/towns to cities. People seek better opportunities and come to cities. Therefore the cities become extremely crowded. Houses, commercial buildings are built in wetlands and low lands. This causes severe damage especially in the rainy season. Erratic climatic conditions have been a cause of concern throughout the globe, but it is a mere excuse to cite that as reason for Urban Flooding. 

Impact of flooding in urban areas

• Damage to River Beds – River Beds are damaged due to industrialization and illegal constructions of buildings. This plays a major role as water retention becomes extremely difficult. 

• Small Storm Water Drains – In many places the storm water drains are smaller when compared to the amount of rainfall received. This is mainly due to lack of planning and negligence. 

• Obstruction to the flow of water – The flow of water needs to be studied in depth. People and the governments must ensure that there is no obstruction in the pathway of waterflow. This is majorly overlooked, even in well developed cities. Naturally when the rainfall is heavy, Urban Flooding happens. 

• Population Growth – This has been an issue that has not seen any solution until now. People and Governments discuss population control but it is extremely difficult to bring it to practise.

• Economic Damage – Economic Damage of Urban Flooding is huge. People lose lives and they are affected by severe diseases due to contamination and infection. People take a long time to recover. Livelihood of people is affected due to flooding. 

• Infrastructure Damage – The irony is that the infrastructure is severely damaged as many houses and buildings are damaged because of Urban Flooding. However one needs to understand that building in wetlands, breaching environmental protocols while building are the actual reasons. 

Why are floods in urban areas particularly dangerous ?

Floods in Urban areas are extremely dangerous because of the speed at which they occur. People do not have the time or luxury to move their valuables. The unpredictability of the flood can cause severe damage to people.

Moving to another area becomes extremely challenging , therefore people tend to lose their vehicles such as bikes and cars  as  inches of water is good enough to move a decent sized car. The health aspect of Urban Flooding is often overlooked as people tend to worry about

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