Flooding in Mumbai has happened nearly every year in the past decade, with dozens having lost their lives.
Even normal levels of rain are trapped by excessive construction and crumbling drainage systems that cannot deal with the flow.
In addition, the sea has moved further inland – a result of mangroves having been destroyed for highways and housing.
In July 2018, when the tide reached 4.96 metres (4.5 metres is considered as high tide) and mixed with torrential rain, water crashed into slums and gushed into affluent suburbs.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that by 2100, the sea level on India’s west coast will rise by 400 milimetres to 800 milimetres.
The National Institute of Oceanography expects sea-level rise to flood about 40% of the city in the next century. Mumbai could lose 25 square kilometres.
Like in many coastal cities in India, the Mumbai authorities have responded by planning to build four sea walls along the coastline. They are expected to dissipate the energy of high-intensity waves and allow sand to sieve through them to reduce erosion.
Said an official in the Maharashtra state environment department, “Things have become urgent now and people want to see visible changes.”
Meanwhile, Mumbai is reclaiming more land and constructing a coastal road costing 120 billion rupees (S$2.3 billion) by filling 90 hectures of land into the sea.
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Source: The Straits Times, 26 August 2019