india

Updated: Jul 22, 2019 01:23 IST

This week, one questions looms large: who will foot the bill?

In Assam, where over 70% of Kaziranga has drowned, is flood relief enough? Even when you reduce the death toll dramatically, what is life like when the waters recede? What do people do when their entire assets have been washed away? Any disaster can wipe out years of state development effort—houses, skill development, infrastructure. We know the Assam floods happen frequently, but it is also a huge drain on the exchequer.

The story of Amaravati is for everyone. The folks protesting against it talk about many issues, most notably the means by which land has been acquired and the impact on people and sustainability. It warns us about our future, because India is urbanizing rapidly. How will cities be created in the years to come? Who will pay for the land, and how much?

We have to re-imagine this model. India has to think smart. We should work internationally across river basins, reducing vulnerability. Locally, how do people diversify assets, create more resilient ones? What can you do when your cattle is drowned? Can you have invested in one off-site, for example, that reaches when you need it? Rethinking cities is vital. Why build them from scratch? Why have few urban centres in a digital age? Let’s cluster ministries in smaller towns. Our focus should be to strengthen Class III cities, so urbanisation doesn’t push us into unsustainability. That might make the bill smaller and greener.

(The writer is the Founder and Director of Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group)