I have lived in the metropolitan city of India for most of my life, and if there is one weather phenomenon that can be counted upon year after year it is a city wide red alert followed by flooding. For me as a student these days were a loved occurrence that got me a day off school. These days my school goes online instead, so I feel no particular love for them anymore and now I find myself unable to stop thinking about the What, the Why, the Who of it all.
The What
Mumbai has a tropical climate caused by its close proximity to the sea. The typical amount of rainfall for tropical areas is around 700 mm to 1000 mm. Mumbai receives the highest amount of rainfall during the months of July and August.
Keeping this all in mind, let us look at some rain statistics from two regions of Mumbai.
From these graphs it can be observed that the rainfall in Mumbai actually receives within the average amount of tropical rainfall, though it is admittedly on the higher side of it.
Santacruz saw an increase in the frequency of heavy rain after 1994 and Colaba had a similar spike after 2005, hitting the historic amount of 944 mm of rain per year.
These graphs illustrate just how unpredictable and non-uniform the monsoons are in Mumbai. The Mumbai government constantly has to issue city wide alerts, huge damages to infrastructure and vehicles as well as constantly having to put the daily business and education of citizens on hold.
The Why
As the financial capital of India, Mumbai has gone through a rapid and unsustainable process of urbanisation that combined with the inefficient drainage system leads to construction debris clogging drainage making the water pile up. This can be identified as the two faults in our urban planning that are the main cause of the constant waterlogging and flooding. The drains are also incapable of clearing out water in situations of high tides and heavy rainfall.
However, the rising threat of climate change and global warming unsurprisingly have a part to play as well, because it has made rainfall more erratic and unpredictable making it harder for us to forecast the coming of the rain and prepare accordingly.
Mumbai, during the course of its urban development has eradicated a large amount of its tropical mangrove cover. Mangrove trees have the special ability to absorb water, the above ground roots are able to slow down the flow of water they actively build up soils. Their newfound scarcity leaves Mumbai undefended from waterlogging from the heavy rains or rising sea level.
It is important to note that Mumbai’s weather can also be just the opposite. During the monsoon months, it is very common for there to be a week-long dry spell after relentless rainfall.
The Who
Mumbai rains can be fickle in nature. This fickle nature causes problems for all the locals. Red Alerts often come either the night before or the day that they are to occur. In urban areas, this becomes terribly inconvenient for all the workers, who need to either miss out on a day of income or risk not being able to make it back home at all. The waterlogging very often leads to trains and other modes of public transit being incapacitated. Private cars are also not a full proof solution as the pile up of water often makes them unable to move, lest they get stuck in the pool of water and the same problem is only exacerbated in the case of pedestrians. Delivery work is especially perilous during these bursts of rainfall.
The rural areas of Maharashtra are affected even worse, since their less stable infrastructure can be easily destroyed by a heavy downpour. Farmers are heavily affected as well, since their stock of crops might get dried up or over-watered due to flooding. Other rural occupations are also halted due to the constant waterlogging of the streets of Mumbai.
The Conclusion
Throughout the course of this article I have hopefully provided you, dear reader, with some knowledge on the Mumbai rainfall patterns and the causes and effects of its unpredictable nature. It is important that the inhabitants of this city, and more generally of this world do our part in trying to normalise the Mumbai climate.
This can be down via simply taking the general steps in deterring climate change or some of the specific ones: demanding the state government to enhance the city infrastructure and refine its drainage system as well as encouraging the reforestation of the coastal mangroves to alleviate the risks of floods.
These things will not be easy changes. It's entirely possible that their impact will not be felt within our lifetimes. Nonetheless, these are absolutely vital pursuits for us to embark upon so as to make Mumbai a better home for our future generations.
Written by Tista Sengupta
Tista wrote this article as a participant of the Media-Makers Fellowship's July'24 cohort.
This article was adjudged the 'Best Climate Explainer' created in Week 3 of the program.
Comments