Urban Flooding and Landslides in Several Cities

📌 Summary:

• Water and sanitation is a State subject; management of urban flooding, including cleaning and desilting of drains, falls under State Governments and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/Urban Development Authorities, who maintain drainage and sewerage systems

• The Centre supplements State efforts through schematic interventions and advisories, and provides financial and technical support to strengthen the urban planning ecosystem

• Causes identified: increased incidence of high-intensity rainfall in short duration, compounded by unplanned growth, encroachment of natural water bodies, inadequate sewer systems and inadequate rainwater drainage

• Pre-monsoon drain cleaning and desilting are ULB functions; funds allocated, released and utilised by ULBs for these activities are NOT centrally maintained

• MoHUA advisory documents for urban drainage and flood management: (i) URDPFI Guidelines, 2014 (Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation); (ii) Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Urban Flooding; (iii) River Centric Urban Planning Guidelines, 2021, enabling conjunctive water management including nature-based solutions; (iv) Guidance Document on Creation of Rain Water Harvesting Parks; (v) Manual on Storm Water Drainage System

• AMRUT (launched 2015) includes a storm water drainage component: 838 storm water drainage projects worth ₹3,022.39 crore taken up by States/UTs

• Also under AMRUT: 2,522 green space and park projects worth ₹1,604.13 crore, developing 5,400 acres of permeable green space area

• Under AMRUT 2.0: 2,951 water body rejuvenation projects worth ₹6,003.34 crore covering about 1.21 lakh acres, and 1,649 green space/park projects worth ₹1,087.12 crore covering about 12,750 acres, approved

• Sewerage and septage management under AMRUT (888 projects grounded, ~22,539 km sewer network created) and AMRUT 2.0 (605 projects, 40,021 km sewer network) also aid storm water evacuation

• Written reply given by MoS Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Tokhan Sahu in the Rajya Sabha

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 (Disaster Management — urban flooding, mitigation and preparedness) and GS2 (Federalism — Centre-State-ULB division of responsibility; role of 74th Amendment institutions). A textbook case of a disaster where the constitutional division of subjects shapes accountability.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• AMRUT launched in 2015; AMRUT 2.0 is the successor mission

• URDPFI Guidelines, 2014 — Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation

• River Centric Urban Planning Guidelines issued in 2021

• Under AMRUT: 838 storm water drainage projects worth ₹3,022.39 crore; 5,400 acres of permeable green space developed

• Under AMRUT 2.0: 2,951 water body rejuvenation projects worth ₹6,003.34 crore

• Water and sanitation is a State subject; urban flood management rests with States and ULBs

🔑 Key Term: Conjunctive water management — an integrated approach that plans surface water, groundwater, storm water and wastewater together as a single resource system, often combined with nature-based solutions such as restored water bodies and permeable green spaces, rather than treating drainage purely as a grey-infrastructure problem.