Policy interventions to address urban water problems in highly urbanised areas due to climate change

Abstract

In this research first, the rainfall pattern of Ahmedabad and Surat, the fast-growing urban areas of Gujarat state of India, have been studied and compared. It is detected what makes Surat city more prone to floods. Then, analysis of rainfall shifts in Surat over the last three decades has been carried out. It is interesting to observe that the rainfall pattern of Surat follows the local calendar, i.e., the Indian calendar rather the Gregorian calendar. This relation of rainfall pattern with the Indian calendar shows that the prediction and the climatic condition responsible for rain follows the local calendar based on the planetary position. For the Water Sensitive Urban Design, four different wards in Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) named Adajan, Piplod, Anjana and Pandesara are being studied. These wards are selected based on land use, having the highest areas in commercial, residential, industrial and institutional in total SMC area. For each ward, the previous and impervious area is calculated, and the runoff is determined. Planning interventions for water sensitive urban design at building level, street level and ward level have been given to the study area. The study will be helpful for the decision-makers to prepare a policy to follow the local calendar to operate the monsoon protocol and to manage water resource infrastructure, including the planning of harvesting activities.