Earlier this year, as the summer monsoons struck the country, Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Mumbai were quickly under several feet of stagnating water. Similar scenes played out in settled areas in many parts of the country, with officials evacuating several thousand people in anticipation of floods.
India’s urban areas have been flooding more and more often. These urban floods lead to life and livelihood loss, and can push governments into economic crises. In July this year, a State Bank of India report estimated the economic loss due to the 2023 North India floods and Cyclone Biparjoy in Gujarat together to be Rs 10,000-15,000 crore.
Now, a new study, published in Nature journal on October 4, and led by the World Bank, has found that these risks have been exacerbated by the rapid and continuous expansion of cities into areas at high risk of flooding. According to its authors, since 1985, human settlements in flood-prone areas have more than doubled in the last four decades.
