SW Monsoon 2026: Cities swept away by deluge: Is it just natural disaster or unplanned development responsible?
SW Monsoon 2026: This year's monsoon has brought more than just rain; it has raised several uncomfortable questions about the country's development model. A similar picture is emerging everywhere—from Gujarat to Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, and South India.
In some places, cities are submerged; in others, mountains are crumbling and roads have been washed away, while people are being forced to abandon their homes for safer locations. It is easy to assume that heavy rainfall is the sole cause of this devastation, but the reality is far more serious.
In truth, it is not just cities that are drowning; our decades-old, haphazard town planning and flawed approach to development are also being washed away. The same scenes repeat with every monsoon: after just a few hours of rain, roads turn into rivers, underpasses transform into reservoirs, hospitals and government offices flood, and public assets worth crores of rupees are destroyed in moments. Despite this, the tendency persists to dismiss it all as a "natural disaster" and move on.
Development left no room for nature
The real problem is not the rain, but the development that left no room for nature. City ponds were filled in for development, residential colonies sprang up over drains, construction was permitted in river floodplains, and concrete jungles expanded so rapidly that the land's capacity to absorb water was virtually eliminated. When natural water channels are blocked, water will carve its own path—and that is precisely what is manifesting today as floods and waterlogging.
Master plans for most cities remain confined to paper
An even greater cause for concern is our approach to town planning. Master plans for most cities remain confined to paper. Where plans exist, they are not implemented; where rules exist, political and economic pressures render them ineffective. A lack of coordination among municipal corporations, development authorities, irrigation departments, and environmental agencies further complicates the situation. The result is a chaotic cycle: one department builds a road, another blocks a drain, and a third announces a multi-crore rupee scheme to resolve the resulting waterlogging.
Impact of climate change
Compounding this crisis is the impact of climate change. The nature of rainfall has changed. While rain used to be spread over several days in the past, a month's worth of precipitation now often occurs within just a few hours. Unfortunately, our cities' drainage systems remain based on outdated standards. Neither has the drainage infrastructure expanded to keep pace with changing weather patterns, nor has a scientific approach been given adequate importance in urban planning.
This is not the time merely to announce relief packages or distribute compensation. There is a pressing need to comprehensively review the country's entire urban planning framework. A scientific drainage master plan must be formulated for every city.