Flood Resilient Land Use Planning for Gurugram

Abstract

Floods have become a common phenomenon in the fast urbanizing world as a consequence of accumulation of large amount of water in a particular area, either as a result of direct rainfall exceeding the capacity of drainage systems or a spill of enormous amounts of water from water bodies. Urbanization develops densely populous urban areas where the inhabitants suffer as a result of floods due to the reasons mentioned above, ending in disaster at times. It is not only the occurrence of flooding that causes human sufferings, but also the secondary consequences such as infection causing loss of livelihood, property and lives, disruptions in transportation and power, etc. The goal of organising cities and their regions is to keep their built environment safe from hazards such as flooding, earthquakes, cyclones, and other natural disasters. But while preparing land use based Master Plans in India, hardly any care in given to urban flooding. An empirical study of Gurugram in Haryana, India has clearly revealed that urban floods have become a common phenomenon each year. Analysis of the topographical data reflects that no due diligence has been paid to the contours of the city and the drainage network of the city is unpalatably planned and designed. It also highlights that no comprehensive evaluation of land use planning from flood risk point of view has been made. The research proposes technical and technological interventions to improve the flooding conditions to make Gurugram a flood resilient city.