Managing floods in Chennai city as part of situation understanding and improvement project

Abstract

Transdisciplinary approaches in water are important to ensure water security to everyone around the world. Recently, Young Water Professionals (YWPs) training was carried out to impart learning in transdisciplinary approaches. Besides online workshops and lectures, the training program included the Situation Understanding and Improvement Project (SUIP). Through SUIP, YWPs were able to implement the transdisciplinary approaches learnt during lectures and workshops. The SUIP selected by one of the groups of YWPs was related to the flooding experienced by the residents of Chennai, India. Flooding is a very common phenomenon having its occurrence across the world with varying severity and magnitude because of changes to the use of river floodplains, changing the land use pattern, encroachment of waterbodies, and the impact of climate change on water resources. Chennai City in Tamil Nadu, India, with a population of about 6.5 million is facing frequent flooding because of extreme rainfall events and the presence of three rivers within the city and is also facing an acute shortage of water which also needs to be addressed for its sustainable development. This study used transdisciplinary approach to understand 2015 flooding in Chennai and made several recommendations to improve the flood management in Chennai including an early warning system. The YWP training and the concept of SUIP significantly enhanced the outcomes from this study.