Act local to mitigate floods: Marri

Round table discussion on urban flooding held

A pragmatic, focussed and hyper-local approach is the only way to deal with urban flooding. This was concluded at the round table discussion on the issue on Saturday.

“Citizens have the right to know about the watershed they are living in. It will help them make plans and alert others. We have developed good forecasting technology since the time Mumbai was flooded in 2005. It should be used to improve lives,” said Marri Shashidhar Reddy, who shared his experience with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

“Hyderabad has 13 main nalas that drain into the Musi, and two empty into the Godavari. If we can clear the waterways, urban flooding can be mitigated in the city,” said Mr. Reddy.

Climate emergency

“We are in the midst of a climate emergency. We may have summer temperatures of 55 degrees in India. These will impact everyone from street vendors to employees in offices. We need sustainable measures to tackle the impact,” said Kapil Gupta, who has worked on flood warning steps in Mumbai in the aftermath of the 2005 event.

The round table discussion was organised by Justice B. Subhashan Reddy Memorial Foundation.

“Currently, citizens in Hyderabad have no way of interacting with the civic body. That is one of the reasons why issues that can be resolved easily take days,” says Kota Neelima, sharing her work in flood-affected areas in the city.