Context
Recently, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioned a fresh climate-risk assessment of Mumbai’s 149-km coastline. It will map areas vulnerable to sea-level rise and coastal flooding while examining the effects of changing land use, coastal development and climate patterns.
Explanation
- Sea-level rise is driven mainly by thermal expansion of warming seawater and melting of land-based glaciers and ice sheets due to global warming.
- Mumbai is particularly vulnerable because of its low-lying coastal and island geography, dense population and extensive built-up areas.
- Heavy rainfall + high tides + sea-level rise can produce compound flooding, as tidal water restricts the drainage of rainwater into the sea.
- Land reclamation, concretisation, encroachment on floodplains and narrowing of natural drainage channels, such as the Mithi River, can aggravate inundation.
- Destruction of mangroves, salt marshes and coastal wetlands removes natural buffers that absorb floodwater and reduce wave impacts.
- The Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP), 2022 identified coastal flooding, urban heat, air pollution and loss of green cover as major climate risks.
- Hence, nature-based solutions, climate-sensitive land-use planning and updated vulnerability mapping are important for coastal resilience.
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Mumbai Coastal Vulnerability