Written by: Akshika Jangid
The current crisis of urban flooding in cities like Gurgaon, Punjab and Mumbai has become a devastating issue, echoing the fate of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, where a city literally drowned due to a fatal mix of geography, weather, failed engineering, mismanagement and broken systems.
However, at its heart, it was a tragedy of misplaced priorities; for years it was common knowledge that New Orleans could be destroyed by a hurricane where decision makers turned away from long term investments which might have prevented such a catastrophe but instead pursued projects that made the city even more vulnerable to such fatal incidents.
Just like New Orleans, Indian cities are vulnerable due to rapid, unplanned urbanisation and erosion of natural buffers such as rivers, wetlands, lakes and other floodplains. Gurgaon’s woes stem from weak drainage infrastructure, over-concretisation and destroyed water bodies- a city where even a brief downpour can paralyse life for hours, resulting in road jams and waterlogging. Mumbai, hemmed by the sea and crossed by shrinking rivers, also suffers when monsoon rain coincides with high tide, overwhelming its colonial drains designed for a fraction of today’s deluge. Punjab, India’s Wheat and Rice bowl faces severe floods in recent times due to overflowing perennial rivers, silted channels, and outdated drainage – all exacerbated by climate change and dam mismanagement.
The drowning Metaphor: Cities on the Edge
New Orleans once “Drowned Slowly” – ignored the warnings year after year, underfunded protections, delayed in taking crucial decisions on disaster management. The similar problems arise in Gugaon, Mumbai, Punjab, where floodwater rises not just from rain but actually from neglect and collective forgetting of land’s memory of rivers and wetland today.
There’s a saying that goes like, “It’s your privilege if you can enjoy the rains by sitting on your balcony.” It might bring joy to some, for many others whose homes got flooded, it mounts on their miserable situation. This monsoon season has shown us its dark side too, with the erratic rainfall patterns causing trouble to the common man of our country. The incessant rainfall has heightened the risk of cities facing flooding and disruption of daily life. Unending traffic snarls, frequent power outrage, stranded office commuters and hutments sinking beneath rising waters paint a grim picture of devastation. As floods intensify with the growing impact of global warming, the damage to lives and climate alike is becoming increasingly severe.
Monsoon in India is now a test of patience and a lesson in resilience. 
There are so many potholes on the road that make it hard for drivers to take the usual route, each traffic jam now reminds workers of lost working hours while each promise lost in the puddles stirs a familiar chorus of discontent. Beneath the rhetoric and roadworks, the city’s true challenge remains: Will potholes forever outpace the patchwork, or will a new foundation finally carry the city beyond cosmetic repairs?
As floods now threaten to become an annual catastrophe, the question that still lingers in my mind:
Will cities continue to drown under the weight of engineering oversights and neglected ecosystems, or will they heed the dire warnings of the past, invest in resilience, and reclaim memories of rivers, wetlands, and collective care for urban life?
Urban flooding occurs when excessive rainfall overwhelms the city’s outdated drainage system, poor land use planning, eventually leading to waterlogging in streets, homes and public spaces. The lack of green spaces and increase in concrete surface prevent the rainwater from soaking into the ground, which causes the water to flow over the surface, collecting in low lying areas and blocking daily lives. In places like Mumbai, the built-up area has almost doubled in the past few decades. Some city zones now generate nearly 30 times more runoff than natural landscapes.
There once was a river that used to flow through the city and that city was the ‘city of glass facades and corporate towers’, now called Gurugram. Yes, the city was shaped by the flow of the Sahibi River which was once a lifeline for farms, wetlands and wildlife, now survives only as the foul smelling Najafgarh drain that drains into Yamuna in Northern Delhi. Natural water bodies like these become an important source for storing excess rainwater but sadly many of these today have been encroached upon by construction. You may have heard on the news that many houses that were on the peril in Himachal Pradesh got washed away due to cloudbust. Well, it is not the cloudbust alone to blame, it is because those houses were built on the eco-sensitive areas that disturbed the natural flow of water, which obviously would trigger landslides and worsen flooding. The 2013 floods in Kedarnath showed the high cost of building without considering the environment. Moreover, the reasons for urban flooding just doesn’t end here as heaps of solid waste, plastic and construction debris clog the narrow sewage canal, which ultimately brings the dirty water on the road. Improper garbage disposal is the biggest issue and as per official records, Indian cities produce more than 1.5 lakh tonnes of waste every day, but only a fraction of it is actually treated. We treat every barren land as a waste disposal landfill but it is obvious that even a short spell of rain would cause flooding when our drains are filled with our trash.
Can cities really avoid New Orleans Fate?
Unless cities acknowledge and restore their natural waterways, upgrade drainage and put climate resilience at the heart of urban planning, they risk “slowly drowning” – not always in water, but in the consequences of erasing nature for unchecked development. Floods in Gurgaon, Punjab and Mumbai are not just seasonal disruptions– they are a reminder for us to remember the river that once ran, the wetland sponges that once absorbed the excess water, and the disasters that follow when we let a city forget how not to drown.
Can we revive our cities back with proper planning ?
Yes, we can indeed revive our cities, only if we reimagine them with foresight, discipline, and resilience. Urban flooding is more of a governance and poor planning crisis exacerbated by climate change.
To bring our cities back to life, governance must step up first. Disaster management and climate adaptation cannot remain in separate silos. When states synchronize the efforts of disaster management authorities and climate change departments, cities gain a unified command to respond to both immediate floods and long-term vulnerabilities. Importantly, institutions such as the National Disaster Management Authority at the national level, along with State and District Disaster Management Authorities, were created precisely to provide this integrated approach. Their mandate goes beyond reactive relief—they are meant to focus on prevention, mitigation, and preparedness, ensuring that development gains are not washed away and that human life, livelihoods, and property are protected.
Urban planning must be treated as resilience planning. This means that cities must prepare contour stormwater routes, conduct detailed stormwater surveys to reinforce them with modern drainage systems, and clear the obstructions to drainage networks—both man-made and careless—that choke our cities every monsoon. Reducing waste, particularly restricting plastic use, and safeguarding natural water channels are not cosmetic reforms but survival measures.
The central government’s role here is catalytic. By funding resilient infrastructure and incentivizing smaller cities, it can relieve migration pressure on overstretched metros and allow resources to be more evenly distributed across the urban map.
Building Smart and Green Cities
Every city must own its vulnerabilities through Climate Action Plans, backed not just by words but secured budgets. Cities like Mumbai show that floods can be addressed only when folded into broader climate strategies, not treated as one-off emergencies.
But technology and nature must work hand in hand. Green roofs, artificial reservoirs, permeable pavements, wetlands and rooftop rainwater harvesting restore lost permeability, while detention ponds and underground storage tanks capture excess water before it turns into floodwaters. Smart sensors powered by the Internet of Things can give precious minutes of warning, turning reactive panic into proactive protection.
Learning from the World
If Singapore’s real-time flood alerts, the Netherlands’ “Room for the River” vision, and China’s Sponge Cities can transform their flood-prone geographies, then Indian cities, too, can redesign themselves to thrive with water instead of being destroyed by it. Even innovations like New Orleans’ FLOAT houses remind us that adaptation can be both bold and necessary.
Revival is, therefore, not a dream but a disciplined strategy—one that manages growth wisely, balances ecology with technology, and embeds resilience in every plan and budget. Our cities can breathe again, but only when we stop treating floods as temporary disasters and instead prepare for them as permanent realities of urban life.
