By: Vikrant Shinde
The news reports of the disastrous flooding from last year are still fresh in our minds.
The floods washed away homes, vehicles and lives. The 2019 tragedy woke us up - we were not ready for rain.
The city is criss-crossed with floodlines. We have vital waterways in the form of canals, nullahs, rivulets, etc. But encroachments along these 'city savers' have started to act like slow poison, which is making our city shallow from within and reducing its immunity to fight
nature's worst.
Arguments that claimed only neighbourhoods along nullahs were hit last year are troubling at best. Heavy rains are not limited to areas near nullahs or rivers. Nature has proven that. The entire city needs to be equipped to deal with flooding, instead of certain parts. Breaches in just two nullahs - Ambil Odha and Bhairoba nullah - were responsible for most of the damage Pune suffered last year.
But disaster is perhaps the best teacher for
urban planners. The sight of water entering homes and impacting low-lying areas shows us that canals and waterways need to be respected. If they are meant to carry water from source to destination, we should not be dumping our bricks and bags into them.
Thankfully, efforts are on to ensure the worst of 2019 doesn't repeat. Nullahs along the Katraj-Parvati stretch and nearby areas are getting retaining walls. Encroachments too are being removed.
But mere walls will not stop the dumping of waste or construction rubble. These walls amount to exclusive treatment of nullahs. Instead, we should be making them more inclusive. The waterways then should be intergrated into the leisure and recreational
infrastructure of Pune. With measures that ensure unimpeded water flow, our nullahs can be developed into strip gardens and accessible public
spaces with prudent entry points. Such a step will help create more destinations for citizens. The nullah park in
Sahakarnagar is one such example. Now I want you to imagine the infrastructure potential in the photo above - it's a shot of a waterway in Warje. Why can't we have a beautiful public space there instead of just rubble and loose mud?
Through some intervention and attention, nullahs can be developed to carry water and serve as sustainable public spaces that respond to flood-like situations. The materials used should be part of the city's sponge infrastructure - designed to absorb maximum downpour.
Pune has the potential to become an Indian city with some of the prettiest waterfront spaces. We can have running tracks, meditation centres, open-air gyms and even small concert venues. Children will one day run and play where garbage is being dumped today.
It's just a matter of attention and the right intentions.
The writer is a city-based architect and urban designer