Unprecedented floods in Bangladesh followed by Assam floods, extremely heavy rain in Madhya Pradesh, parts of Rajasthan and Bengaluru in India, and the Pakistan deluge. Climate experts say all calamities have shown how the quantum of extreme events has increased exponentially in South Asia.
Last year, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned about the increase in extreme weather events across South Asia in the coming years if the emissions continue to be unchecked.
Asian urban areas are considered high-risk locations from projected climate change, extreme events, unplanned urbanisation and rapid land-use change, an expert told IANS.
With increasing urbanisation, the cities are at greater risk as the volume of damage in terms of loss of human lives, property damage, and economic losses are higher than in rural areas. Cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai are home to millions of people, so high is the climate risk.
Studies say Asia is home to 54 per cent of the world's urban population, and by 2050, 64 per cent of Asia's 3.3 billion people will be living in cities. Asia is also home to the world's largest urban agglomerations: Tokyo (37 million inhabitants), New Delhi (29 million) and Shanghai (26 million) are the top three with Cairo, Mumbai, Beijing and Dhaka home to nearly 20 million people each.
By 2028, New Delhi is projected to become the most populous city in the world.
In the warming environment, urban flooding is a major threat to cities and towns. Regional ecological challenges coupled with climatic variability have aggravated flood risks. Urban flooding, which was primarily a concern of municipal and environmental governance has now attained the status of 'disaster'.
What is urban flooding?
Urban flooding can be defined as a combination of two factors, mismanagement of urban planning and climate change impacts which are intensifying and becoming more frequent.
In extreme cases, urban floods can result in disasters that set back urban development for years or even decades.
According to the IPCC, warming from 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius will increase extreme precipitation events across Asia, especially Thein East and South Asia.
Extreme rainfall has direct and increasing consequences on urban flooding risk, which is further exacerbated by urbanisation trends that reduce land permeability, divert water flow and disrupt watersheds.
"Urbanisation across the city continues to be unchecked, maximising on the most the city has. Bengaluru is doing nothing for adaptation. The political system is not aligned with resilient climate policy. There has been no political stability to battle climate risk as 15 chief ministers have changed in the last 20 years," said Anjal Prakash, Research Director and Adjunct Professor, Bharti School of Public Policy, Indian School of Business and IPCC author.
According to the IPCC, urban climate-resilient development is observed to be more effective if it is responsive to regional and local land use development and adaptation gaps and addresses the underlying drivers of vulnerability.
Several states across India are working towards a climate action plan to fight climate change impacts. Mumbai has recently come out with one, aiming to reduce emissions.
Responding to the urgency, Aarti Khosla, Director, Climate Trends, told IANS, "People increasingly understand the implications of climate change and how these events are affecting them in real time now.
"Climate change will worsen these events, and compounding disasters will destabilise growth and local governments. Suppose decision makers fail to bring integrated, inclusive planning to India's urban development. In that case, it will not only be counterproductive to the GDP linked development we aim for, but also lose out on investment opportunities to develop future-ready cities which have the adaptive capacity for increasing populations."
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The above article has been published from a wire agency with minimal modifications to the headline and text.
