Veroli Zhimo
The arrival of ‘Mango showers’ or pre-monsoon rainfall brings mercury levels down while offering respite from the scorching heat. But in most low lying areas of Dimapur, Chümoukedima and Niuland districts, it also means that the annual floods are coming.
Over the past few years, it has become clear that the volume and duration of monsoonal rains are turning unpredictable. Globally, intermittent torrents with crippling impacts on towns and cities have become more frequent, influenced by a warming climate.
Last week, there were reports of at least four localities in Dimapur town being inundated with water after a spell of rainfall. While there were no losses to life, the inundation displaced several families and damaged their houses and property.
The rains, of course, cannot be stopped. But floods— they are almost entirely manmade and stoppable. Factors like non-existent drainage systems, poorly maintained drains, and random dumping of municipal wastes in open spaces and drains, contribute to the accumulation of rain water and reoccurrence of floods every year.
Parts of both the problem and potential solutions towards tackling the messy nature of urban flood risk management are owned by a diverse range of stakeholders ranging from government departments, property owners and the common citizen, leading to complex and often fragmented responsibilities.
With every passing monsoon season, officials of the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority, Dimapur Municipal Council, Urban Development and other allied departments have been repeating that lack of proper urban planning, obstruction of existing drainage systems, and chaotic construction of infrastructure in the city are major reasons for floods during rainy seasons.
Additionally, recommendations to restructure the city’s haphazard drainage systems have been brought up in several meetings of the District Planning and Development Board in order to make long-term impacts, but it has seen little progress mostly because of encroachment and issues of landownership along the embankments.
In the meantime, State agencies including the district administration, the DMC, and NSDMA have been conducting piecemeal measures like ‘monsoon preparedness’ exercises with focus on disaster response to the impact of immediate rainfall.
On the part of the citizens, there is an urgent need to understand that their actions—improper waste management, encroachment on drain embankments, etc, are contributing to their own woes. No matter what initiatives are taken up by the authorities, little can be done if the citizens do not feel the simple responsibility over city affairs and feel compelled to address the challenges.
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