England on alert - the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) warns flooding from heavy rainfall could double in the next three decades

This is a wakeup call for England. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) cautioned that many properties could face risk of flooding from heavy rainfall. This could double in the course of the next three decades and the government has to tackle the issue on priority. The NIC says hundreds of thousands homes and businesses are already in high danger of flooding from so-called "surface water flooding" from heavy rain. The situation is serious. Rains are intensifying due to climate change and is growing. Therefore, unmanaged developments risk putting many more properties at high risk of this sort of flooding by 2055. Hence, the government has to increase investment in relevant areas. Two of these are river pollution and drought. These have dominated public discussion about water recently. The commissioners say, "But we risk ignoring a problem that can literally drop out of the sky at any moment." The head of the Environment Agency warned a failure to adapt to climate breakdown will threaten all aspects of life in Britain. English properties at risk of flooding to double in next 30 years without urgent investment, government warned. Delays in action on adaptation would mean our children would have to bear the burden.

The nature of adaptations could be to plant trees to keep cities cooler in the face of heatwaves, or develop more heat-resilient crops. Incidentally, nature of flooding from heavy rain varies from place to place. Widespread flooding in London in July 2021 damaged more than 1,500 properties, as well as health infrastructure and public transport. Another issue is concreting of roads. Concrete increases the risk of flooding because it prevents rainwater from reaching natural drains like streams. Instead, the rainwater flows down the street and into gutters. The NIC calls for adequate investment over the next 30 years to tackle risks associated with heavy rainfall.

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Good bye floods and droughts (satire)

Water is essential for life as we know it and, as we try to migrate to other planets, our first concern is water. The logic is, if water exists, so can lifeforms. On our planet Earth, water is available in plenty but, the distribution is haphazard. While some areas pine for a drop of water, other areas suffer from an abundance in the form of floods.
That is why Moody has deep furrows on his forehead – a sign of worry.
Every year there are scenes of flooded localities with relief packages being airdropped and people running to collect the food packets. There are the aerial surveys by the minister concerned to flood affected areas to assess the extent of drainage which would translate into the amount of central aid.
Side by side there are droughts – farmers sit hunched up on their parched farmlands waiting for rains and, unable to repay the loans they had taken, resort to committing suicides.
Moody wants to change all that. He does not like to hear about unhappiness among his people. He wants them to be happy. Share is his message. Those who have plenty should not hesitate to share some of it with others who are not so fortunate.
Moody, therefore, sent for two of his assistants - Hash Budden and Nitty Gadcurry.

‘I want to discuss water,’ he said.
‘Well,’ Hash Budden began. ‘There are many water purifiers in the market. All of them guarantee pure water. If we go for bulk purchase, we will get huge discounts.’
‘I don’t mean that,’ Moody shook his head.
‘Oh! You mean you want to discuss bottled mineral water?’
‘No. I am worried about water for the masses.’
‘Then we must be careful. The ground water is depleting and, to preserve whatever is available, we must ban bore wells. Moreover, these bore wells are dangerous. Kids keep falling into them and the media people have to spend hours in the night suffering mosquito bites as they give live coverage of rescue operations.’
‘Hash-ji, I am on a different frequency,’ Moody appeared to be exasperated.
‘Oh!’ Hash Budden was deflated.
‘Why don’t we link up the rivers?’ Moody shot his question.
‘We are drawing up plans,’ Nitty joined in the conservation.
‘I don’t want plans. I want action. How soon can we link up the Ganges with the Godavari and Cauvery?’
‘Well – work has started and we can expect to see results soon.’
‘Give me a timeframe,’ Moody demanded.
‘That is not easy,’ Gadcurry shifted in the chair. ‘There are many uncertainties. Especially with the Ganges. It needs to be cleaned up first otherwise the pollution would spread to all the other rivers.’
‘I see,’ Moody nodded his head. Then he began to doodle on the pad in front of him. The doodle looked like a meandering river. (to be continued …)
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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