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What are we failing again and again to learn from floods:



“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.”
– Voltaire

2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India's 52nd Republic day. The news spread viral, even though there were no social media of today. Immediately many organizations and even schools got into relief efforts. I was in my primary schooling grades when I had participated in a Gujarat Earthquake relief item collection rally. It was a huge rally filled with the spirit of little ones. That rally had a lot of josh and hosh from fellow classmates as it was filled with a lot of empathy, care, and concern.

Image source- France floods- https://images.app.goo.gl/hCyp9qhEE3U89a6t8

Even today we see our fellow people getting affected by natural calamities, more often and at large by ‘Floods’. Flood is witnessed due to excessive rain which then results in the overflow of rivers, lakes, and dams, which adds to cause large amounts of damage to people's lives and property. As you look at the above picture of dog rescue taken in France, floods affect even the innocent animals. We all know that to a large extent man’s heinous actions have also caused the water bodies to flood.

Click to watch crocodile struck on house rooftop due to flood water:

In these situations we all irrespective of the region we live in, contribute a lot of money, food, clothes, and shelter to these affected citizens. And the government and some NGOs start building homes afresh. These all take some thousands of Crores spending. It is worth an investment if it’s a onetime effort, but again the flood hits back after few years and we empathetically start the relief efforts once again. In a few cases, floods are back to back. For example, the Last year 2018, Kerala was affected by rain, landslides, and floods, and again this year 2019 Kerala is affected. This year it is most horrible as multiple states have reported floods- Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and Assam (In Assam 43 Lakh affected- July 2019).

Image source- https://images.app.goo.gl/YykccbVqLdUpaBoc6

In the below 2018 Kerala Floods article link the author tries to write a letter on behalf of Earth:

Click to read: Kerala Floods: A Letter From Earth

What could be the solution through education and research?

Currently most of our children are building their career into engineering and medical field. These fields, particularly in India, considered prestigious.

Can we start thinking about getting a few of our children to build their career in the Flood prevention research?

The question is which institution could help our children focus on these researches? There are no major dedicated full-fledged ecological research centers. Yes, there are few institutes who are doing an effort.

I like to mention few- one such university – Azim Premji University Bengaluru with its 2 years program- Master of Arts in Development could help us focus on these lines (They don't have program on flood research, but one can take up research under environment/development research topic). The university website introduces their program as ‘M.A. Development program aims to prepare individuals capable of informed and thoughtful development action, aware of the complexity, depth, and scope of development, its ethical imperatives and its implications for policy and action. Students can meaningfully contribute to meeting India’s growing need for individuals who can engage with diverse development challenges. The program also offers the opportunity for students to further focus on subdomains within Development’.

Click to have a look at below Research working paper from Azim Premji University:
Lakes of Bengaluru: The Once Living, But Now Endangered Peri-Urban Commons

The other research institute which has taken lead into this effort is IIT-Bombay. ‘Environmental Systems Research Laboratory’:

ESRL is situated at Centre for Environmental Science & Engineering ; however, they are closely collaborating with Department of Civil Engineering, IDP Climate Change and Centre for Urban Science & Engineering . They have been attracting people from diverse fields in science and engineering which makes them interdisciplinary in true sense. 

While we are putting our heart, mind, and effort for the flood relief, let us also try to have some technical know-how about the causes of flood. I have collected a little technical information on the reasons for floods. If you are interested you can read part II further.

Part: II
Few Natural causes of Floods:

Below are some technical reasons for flooding in cities, villages, forests and agriculture lands:
Source: http://eschooltoday.com/natural-disasters/floods/what-causes-floods.html

Natural causes:

* Floods caused by Rains:

- Each time there are more rains than the drainage system can take, there can be floods.
-Sometimes, there is heavy rain for a very short period that results in floods.
- Some other times, there may be light rain for many days and weeks and can also result in floods.

flood lessonsFloods caused by River overflow:

- Rivers can overflow their banks to cause flooding. This happens when there is more water upstream than usual, and as it flows downstream to the adjacent low-lying areas (also called a floodplain), there is a burst and water gets into the land.

Not an exact image. Mississippi river-Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/ZLMs6i6rxThMtZ23A

flood lessonsHurricanes, Strong winds in coastal areas:

- Seawater can be carried by massive winds and hurricanes onto dry coastal lands and cause flooding.
-Sometimes this is made worse if the winds carry rains themselves.
-Sometimes water from the sea resulting from a tsunami can flow inland to cause damage.

How Human activities are causing flood:
Human activities that degrade the environment often increase flooding. These activities include:
Deforestation. The lack of vegetation encourages water to flow over the surface rather than infiltrate into the soil thus increasing surface runoff.
Poor land-use practices. Slash and burn agriculture, over-cultivation, and over-grazing eventually cause the soil to become infertile and unable to sustain vegetative growth. Consequently, the lack of green cover encourages water to flow over the surface rather than infiltrate into the soil thus increasing surface runoff.
Urbanization leads to the replacement of permeable soil with that of an impervious layer of pitch and concrete, through which water cannot infiltrate. This results in increased surface runoff which leads to flash flooding.
Improper waste disposal. Oftentimes, the garbage that is not properly disposed of enters into drainage systems and clogs drains. This obstructs the free flow of the water that enters into these drains causing water to back up during rainfall flooding the surrounding area. A build-up of garbage can also obstruct the natural flow of water in rivers and streams.
Scene of Delhi- Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/hpuJe4aBRydGgkfz5
Quarrying is the clearing of land for the removal of aggregates (mainly sand and gravel) which is to be utilized in the construction industry. The action of quarrying leaves land bare and devoid of any trees and shrubs hence increasing surface runoff produced.
Let’s just not take only the short term measures, let us focus on some research practices and actions into these challenges.

You can check out the below links to explore more on floods:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/flood.htm

https://theconversation.com/us/topics/floods-348

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/floods/

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5199884

About the Author:

Maaz Mohammed A.Q
an alumnus of Azim Premji University (M.A.Ed. Batch – 2014-16).
Currently part of a research team at Hauna Preschool Systems and Learning strategist at Credence Learning Foundation Bengaluru.

The author owns the ideas expressed in this article.

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