Increasing Flood Resilience through Planning Practices in Heritage Cities: Case of Mandu, Madhya Pradesh

Abstract

Over the past few decades, India has witnessed various types of natural disasters with changing times such as wild fires, cyclones, earthquakes, floods, landslides etc. Out of which, flooding has severely affected different Indian states in past few decades. Various Government reports shows that between 1953 to 2011, floods have claimed on an average 1653 lives every year and the numbers have been increasing since then. Floods have eroded the banks of the rivers, besieged cultivable land and built environment. Floods have also damaged the landforms and destroyed various dams causing considerable loss of life and property. Inappropriate land use, devastation of existing watersheds and streams, destruction of ecosystems, insufficient flood mitigation facilities and lack of disaster risk assessments are some of the common causes leading to floods. There is an intense need to reshape existing environments and incorporate planning practices at city level to make them acceptable for certain level of disturbances. Floods are also becoming responsible for loss of heritages sites. Therefore, assessment of proper implementation of disaster mitigation policies given by governing bodies in heritage cities is very important. This paper focuses on planning practices which should be applied in reducing floods and increasing resilience amongst urban flooding with the special case of Mandu, Madhya Pradesh. The structures in this city have heritage values and falls under the Archeological Survey of India. The paper concludes that a multidisciplinary and holistic approach is very crucial in order to reduce flood vulnerability.