Building resilience in the flood prone edge of lesser Himalayan City, case of Srinagar Garhwal

Abstract

In the current scenario the occurrence of flash floods has caused the loss of infrastructure and livelihood in the disaster prone Himalayan region. Over time the cities have flourished and repeatedly destroyed by the several hazards, mostly by floods which are caused by glacial lake outbursts, high rainfall and landslides. Hence the question pertains- ―How the flood prone areas (case of Srinagar Garhwal) with urban context can live in these highly unstable and vulnerable zones while retaining the spaces for the river course and encroaching on it. The answer lies in creating flood resilience which is defined as the ability of a system to resist or absorb disturbances (such as storm surges and cloudbursts) and to remain functioning under a wide range of flood wave or rainfall intensities. In this definition, continued functioning implies either withstanding the flood wave (resistance) or quick recovery with limited impact after being exposed to flood water (e.g. due to failure of the flood defense system. with the ultimate aim to avoid impacts from which recovery is extremely difficult. (Zevenbergen 2016) The important aspect is to understand the way communities need to live in these zones under various stresses primarily focusing on floods. The key idea is to remodel the city with the identification of risk zones so that this urban landscape undergoing various shocks can be mitigated shortly without disturbing the city connectivity to different areas and restore the natural habitat for river corridor that passes through it. The study endeavors to determine the structure of the city and surroundings with respect to its physiography and focuses on the river system which has shaped the everchanging landscape over the time. Also, it will examine the river edge zoning as per its vulnerability and with the participation of communities can turn the river edge into resilient recreational spaces for public at city level.