The 2005 Maharashtra floods refers to the flooding of many parts of the Indian state of Maharashtra including large areas of the metropolis Mumbai a city located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, on the Western coast of India, in which approximately 1,094 people died. It has been over a decade and the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) has yet not cracked the code to tackle the floods during monsoon season. This flash flooding often occurs in Mumbai which is plagued by torrential seasonal rains simply because trash and debris clog storm drains and city sewers. If maintenance crews knew when and where to clear them, a lot of damage could be prevented.
A similar natural hazard of flash flooding was faced by Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2013 when more than 100 people lost their lives. After that disaster, city leaders were determined to be better prepared next time. They decided to mitigate risks by expanding the use of technology. Today, The city has installed sensors in over 30,000 storm drains that measure the direction, speed and level of water. Along with weather reports and citizen alerts on social media, the city can now analyses sensor data to determine in real time which areas need immediate support. The use of IoT (Internet of Things) technology such as sensors and other devices to collect and analyze data helped them make decisions quickly about where to send maintenance crews to minimize damage.
The World Bank forecasts that global flood losses will reach $1 trillion per year if cities do not start taking preventive measures. It is about time the BMC emulates a model like Buenos Aires, takes charge of the matter at hand before it is little too late.
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