As climate change will put three times more people at risk of coastal flooding India by 2050 than previously thought, Mumbai and Kolkata are on the list of global cities that face the risk of being wiped out, according to a latest research report.

• A recent IPCC report had warned that a mere 50 cm rise in sea level is enough to flood major port cities around the world.

• Cyclones in the Arabian Sea are likely to increase in the near future.

What is coastal flooding?

• A coastal flood is when the coast is flooded by the sea. A flood starts when waves move inland on an undefended coast or overtop or breach the coastal defence works like dunes and dikes.

Major Causes of coastal flooding

The causes include sea level rise, geology, and rapid coastal population growth accompanied by rapid increase of human activities that interfere with natural processes.

• Reclaimed Land: This is land that has been gained from the sea due to coastal management. This land is low lying and flat, so a small rise in sea level from a mild storm surge is enough to flood it and cause extensive damage. For example, reclaimed land is occupied by the majority of Mumbai population making it vulnerable to coastal flooding.

• Urbanization: The inadequate drainage system and an ineffective spatial planning increase the flood risk.

• Increase infrastructure in coastal zones: Construction activities in ecologically sensitive zones and near the ‘high tide line’ has increased the vulnerability.

• Mangrove Degradation: Mangroves serve as a natural barrier to Tsunamis and cyclones. Cutting of mangroves to make way for building infrastructure has curtailed this natural resilience.

What are the impacts of coastal flooding?

Intense and more frequent cyclones such as the recent Fani, Gaja and Hudhud as well as severe floods have caused massive devastation to the India’s coastal states.

• Loss of lives and property: Immediate impacts of flooding include loss of human life, damage to property, destruction of crops, loss of livestock, non-functioning of infrastructure facilities and deterioration of health condition owing to waterborne diseases.

• Economic loss: 

  • National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), suggested that coastal flooding, which will be caused by climate change-induced sea level rise, will disrupt global economy. 

  • Disruption of the electrical system also has a cascading effect on health systems, water supply, communication and transport, etc. which become even more vital during natural disasters for help to reach the most vulnerable.

• Environmental impacts: Flooding can destroy coastal habitats such as coastal wetlands and estuaries and can erode dune systems. It can cause significant biodiversity loss ..

• Coastal erosion: According to the Central Water Commission’s Shoreline Change Atlas, India has lost 3,829 km, or 45 per cent of the coastline, in just 17 years till 2006. 

• Agricultural impact: Prolonged inundation of seawater after flooding can also cause salinization of agriculturally productive soils thus resulting in a loss of productivity for long periods of time

• Social impact: 

  • As sea levels rise, low-lying land areas and small islands could shrink due to flooding and coastal erosion, forcing large-scale migration inland. 

  • Poverty: The poor section of the society is worst affected in case of disaster. 

  • Drinking water: Coastal freshwater bodies including lakes, lagoons and coastal freshwater aquifers can also be affected by saltwater intrusion. 

Government initiatives:

• Disaster Management Act, 2005: The Act lays down institutional, legal, financial and coordination mechanisms at the National, State, District and Local levels. It is expected to usher in a paradigm shift in DM from relief-centric approach to a proactive regime that lays greater emphasis on preparedness, prevention and mitigation.

• Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project (ICZMP): The Government of India under the aegis of Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has launched the ICZMP, to assist GoI in building the national capacity for implementation of a comprehensive coastal management approach in the country.

• National Flood Commission (Rashtriya Barh Ayog) – 1980: The Rashtriya Barh Ayog (RBA) had assessed the area of 40 mha in the country lying in 21 States and one Union Territory.

• Expert Committee to Review the Implementation of the Recommendations of National Flood Commission-2003 (R Rangachari Committee)

• National Water Policy 2012: It states that coastal States should prepare a comprehensive coastal land management plan, keeping in view the environmental and ecological impacts, and regulate the developmental activities accordingly.

• Blue economy policy: The development of technologies for the sustainable harvesting of living and non-living resources of the ocean was in line with the blue economic policy of the Union government.

• National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project: The overall objective is to minimize vulnerability to cyclones and make people and infrastructure disaster resilient in harmony with the conservation of the coastal ecosystem in the cyclone hazard prone States and Union Territories of India.

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines

• Sea walls/coastal protection works will be planned and executed by the respective coastal states/port authorities, keeping in view the complexity of sea behaviour and other environmental aspects.

• Chronic problems of coastal erosion: It is essential to examine the problem of floods and flood management in the country afresh.

• Only restricted urbanisation should be permitted in areas vulnerable to sea surges resulting from cyclones

• The general range of land use regulation recommended for flood prone areas may be applied for cyclone-hit areas too.

• Casuarina and other plantations, wherever feasible, should be grown as wind breakers for a width of about 2 km along the seacoast.

• Shelter buildings, especially designed for cyclone conditions should be constructed in the coastal areas.

• Hazard zoning and mapping, including the use of GIS tools, capacity development, etc; and its implementation strategies are suggested. 

• Role of NGOs in Disaster Management: The guidelines discuss the role of NGOs in disaster preparedness, mitigation and response and spell out the institutional mechanism for improving the effectiveness of disaster management through effective coordination between NGOs and the government at different levels.

Issues with coastal flood management in India:

• Weak Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms: 

  • The latest CRZ 2018 notification allows “eco-tourism activities such as mangrove walks, tree huts, nature trails, etc” in eco-sensitive areas, demarcated as CRZ-IA. 

  • The controversial land reclamation which is known to have strong impacts on coastal ecology, has been allowed in intertidal or CRZ-IB areas, for ports and sea links.

  • The latest notification drastically shrinks ‘No Development Zone (NDZ)’ to 50 m from HDL in densely populated areas (where population exceeds 2,161 per sq km as per the 2011 Census). 

  • Providing housing facilities just 50 m from the coastline would expose the inhabitants to severe weather events, that too without any buffer.

  • No study is available to show the carrying capacity of coastal areas to accommodate such increased development.

  • Provisions for land reclamation and permission to build roads even in ecologically sensitive CRZ-I facilitates the creation of coastal economic zone (CEZs). The government has declared Sagarmala, Bharatmala and CEZs as “strategic projects”, which has a blanket exemption from CRZ provisions.

• Flouting norms: In the recent Kerala floods it was seen that all landslide and flood-affected areas in the State are in Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ-1), as categorised by Madhav Gadgil report.

• In effective Legislations 

• Also missing are key pieces of legislation for housing and land use in fragile zones which allow buildability but with sensitive development.

• Current disaster norms do not differentiate between States, offering, for example, the same amount per unit for disaster relief in Bundelkhand as in Goa. Such practices are bound to lead to an inadequate recovery.

• In addition, any disaster relief will typically exclude anyone living in an unauthorised area. Such norms also exclude share-croppers and agricultural labourers, while focussing only on small and big farmers.

• Getting accurate sea level rise (SLR) projections: Models for glacier melt are not as well developed as other models that study global warming. 

• Early warning generation system: It is done by the IMD at the state and district levels. There has been no formal mechanism so far to communicate warnings of cyclones and heavy rains etc. to the villages and people at large.

• Sand mining menace: One of the human activities that have been well linked to the problem of coastal erosion is illegal sand mining along beaches, coastal streams/rivers, and other restricted areas.

• High Tide Line: 

  • The lack of transparency by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management in demarcating the High Tide Line.

  • An inaccurate High Tide Line can result in a flawed plan, and throw open ecologically sensitive areas for development.

  • The effectiveness of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been hampered by a shortage of trained manpower, training, infrastructure and equipment, which prompted the Comptroller and Auditor General to highlight the National Disaster Management Authority’s performance in projects such as vulnerability assessment and mitigation projects of major cities as “abysmal”.

Way Forward

There are two parts to disaster mitigation: minimizing the loss of lives, and minimizing the loss of infrastructure and livelihood. 

• Revisiting CRZ norms: Promulgation and enactment of a new Act for the protection of the coastal zones—with clear classification of various zones, after due consultations with the fishing communities, stakeholders, scientists and the department concerned—is the need of the hour.

• Measuring HTL: Public scrutiny of such foundation data sets is critical as this forms the basis of the Coastal Zone Management Plan.

• Stopping infrastructure construction along the coast and integrating anticipated SLR effects into coastal planning are essential. 

• Advance preparation for migration into mid-size towns and better ecosystem support in the hinterland are useful ways to collaborate and build regional partnerships. 

• Creating safer housing especially in the coastal regions, and in creating electrical systems that are underground. This will help minimize the need for evacuation.

• Demarcation of ecologically sensitive zones using existing village survey maps and public participation. 

• Clear land use plan for these zones specifying flood plains, protected forest areas, agricultural and plantation zones, with details of the types of crops, building usages permitted and the density of buildings permitted.

• Compensating owners in non-buildable areas, there must be strategies such as Transfer of Development Rights to buildable zones in cities.

• Cities’ master plan should focus on permitting only ecologically sensitive building strategies for these areas by proposing new construction techniques. 

• Controlled development can be proposed using building height rules, floor area ratio control, and restrictions on cutting and filling natural land.

• Post-disaster management of land and geography needs imaginative actions by the authorities and people in order to reverse the damage already done

• NDRF must fill its vacant specialist positions while being given better control over transfers and deployment of its personnel.

• Conservation of Blue Carbon Ecosystems for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.

Conclusion

Without such reforms, only the Indian Army and paramilitary forces can remain first responders, and States will continue to cry out for relief. Perhaps, it’s time to move on from being focussed only on managing natural disaster emergencies to improving resilience.