Flood Vulnerability of Slums: India's Urban Challenge and the Need for a Human-Centric Approach
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Disaster Management (Urban Flooding), Geography (Human Geography, Settlements, Floodplains), Environment (Climate Change), Governance (Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs).
Mains:
GS Paper 1: Urbanization, their problems and their remedies; Poverty and developmental issues; Salient features of Indian Society.
GS Paper 3: Disaster and disaster management; Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.
GS Paper 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population.
Key Highlights from the News
According to a new study, 33% of residences in informal settlements or slums in Global South countries are located in floodplains.
India has the highest number of slum dwellers living in flood-prone areas globally - over 158 million people.
In India, the Ganga river delta region has the highest density of such populations.
Poor people are forced to live in flood-prone areas due to the availability of cheap land and housing, and proximity to job opportunities.
In wealthy countries, people choose such locations due to subsidized insurance, whereas in the Global South, it is a forced situation.
To address this problem, beyond usual disaster management activities, a human-centric approach prioritizing these vulnerable groups is needed.
This issue gains more importance as the 2030 deadline for the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) approaches.
For the study, modern technologies like machine learning were used to analyze satellite images.
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