Do you think your city can become a sponge city?

As soon as monsoon knocks India, news is filled with cases of Urban Flooding in the cities across the country. Not just India, increasing trends of Urban Flooding has now become a universal phenomenon & poses a great challenge to city administrations worldwide. Defined as the “inundation of land in a built environment, particularly in densely populated areas”, urban floods are caused by excessive runoff in developed areas with poor drainage systems.

Problems associated with urban floods vary from relatively localized incidents to major incidents with widespread impacts. Flooding events not just in bigger cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru but also in smaller cities like Belagavi and Dharwad are a testament to the fact that the risk of floods in urban areas has increased and will continue to increase.

In order to curb the damage caused, it is important that cities adopt better urban flood management techniques. Lately, ‘Sponge City’ has emerged as a new design paradigm in this space.

The idea of a sponge city is to make cities more permeable, to hold and use the water which falls upon it, much like the natural sponge. A wide range of benefits are associated with the implementation of sponge cities; however, the main challenge lies in the implementation and availability of land because a sponge city needs to be abundant with spaces that allow water to seep through them.

Experts suggest that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the design and implementation of sponge city strategies. They also believe that in order to convert a city into a sponge city, the administration should first focus on existing infrastructure that can soak up excess water.

China is already fighting flooding with sponge cities and Indian cities like Chennai, Mumbai, and Kochi, are currently studying and planning to develop a sponge city roadmap.

Does your city also suffer from urban flooding?
Do you think your city can become a sponge city?
Share your thoughts in the comments.

To know why Sponge City is being considered as an effective solution for urban flood management, read: https://www.outlookindia.com/national/sponge-city-an-effective-solution-for-urban-flood-management-news-213248