Parliament Question: Urban flooding in tier 1 and tier 2 cities

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2596 ANSWERED ON 16/03/2026 URBAN FLOODING IN TIER 1 AND TIER 2 CITIES 2596. SHRI RAGHAV CHADHA: Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) the funds allocated for stormwater drainage and flood management projects during the last five years, year-wise; (b) the number of such projects sanctioned, completed and under implementation; (c) whether any data is maintained on blockage or capacity issues in existing stormwater drains and if so, the details thereof; and (d) the number of cities which have prepared stormwater drainage master plans during the last five years? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU) (a) & (b): Management of urban flooding falls under the purview of the State Governments and the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)/ Urban Development Authorities, who are responsible for maintaining the drainage and sewerage system. Government of India supplements the efforts of the States through schematic interventions/ advisories. It provides financial and technical support to the States to strengthen Urban Planning ecosystem through schemes such as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and AMRUT 2.0. Under AMRUT/ AMRUT 2.0 States/ Union Territories are empowered to select, appraise, prioritise and implement the projects within broad framework of Mission guidelines. Further, under the Missions, Central Assistance is released/sanctioned to the States/ UTs for all the approved projects and not sector-wise or project- wise. AMRUT launched in the year 2015, inter alia, has a component on storm water drainage, which involved construction and improvement of drains/ storm water drains in order to reduce and eliminate flooding and creating green spaces and parks. Under AMRUT, 838 Storm Water Drainage projects worth ₹3017.13 crore were approved. As reported by the States on AMRUT Portal, 820 Storm Water Drainage projects worth ₹2,448.12 crore have been completed. Under AMRUT, 2,522 green spaces and park projects worth ₹1,604.13 crore have been taken up by the States/UTs, of which, 2,502 projects worth ₹1,579.27 crore have been completed. 5,286 acres of permeable green space area have been developed through these projects so far. Under AMRUT 2.0, projects for green spaces and parks and rejuvenation of water bodies and wells are taken up by the States. Under AMRUT 2.0, proposals of the States/ UTs for 2,991 water body rejuvenation projects worth ₹6,083.32 crore and 1,665 green spaces and park projects worth ₹1,103.71 crore covering 13,893.82 acre, have been approved. Besides, under AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0 sewerage and septage management projects have been undertaken, which inter alia help in evacuation of storm water. Under AMRUT, as updated by State/UTs on AMRUT portal, 889 sewerage/septage management projects have been grounded, which has led to creation of 22,477 km length of sewer network. Under AMRUT 2.0, the State/UTs have taken up 584 Sewerage and Septage Management projects covering 34,559 KM of sewer network. …2/--2- The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has informed that as per recommendations of the XV Finance Commission, an amount of ₹2,500 crore has been earmarked under National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF) for urban flood risk mitigation during the period 2021–26. The allocation covers the seven cities, namely Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. Of this allocation, ₹500 crore each has been earmarked for Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, while ₹250 crore each has been earmarked for Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. The project proposals of Chennai has been approved on 27 November 2023, and proposals of the remaining cities have been approved collectively on 25 July 2024. All the concerned cities have submitted their Project Executive Summaries and have accepted the terms and conditions issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The first instalment (except Chennai who got their 2nd instalment), amounting to 30% of the total allocation, has been released to all seven cities. The second phase of the Urban Flood Risk Management Program (for Tier – II cities) has also been approved with a total budget of INR 2,200 crores. This phase has included eleven cities (Guwahati, Patna, Kanpur, Trivandrum, Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Jaipur, Indore, Lucknow and Raipur) with an allocation of INR 222.22 crores to each cities [INR 200 Cr from NDMF (90%) and INR 22.22 Cr from state share (10%)] as part of UFRMP (Phase II). The Proposal received from Guwahati Municipal Corporation has been approved under UFRMP Phase-II and Ist instalment of Rs. 54 crore to Guwahati has been released. The mitigation measures approved and allocation of funds in Phase-I and Phase II of UFRMP are as under: NDMF State Total Budget City Mitigation Measures (in Cr. ₹) (in Cr. ₹) (in Cr. ₹) Phase - I Mumbai 6 500 207.71 707.71 Pune 17 250 228.22 478.22 Hyderabad 4 250 69.53 319.53 Kolkata 6 500 150.43 650.43 Bengaluru 12 250 25 275 Ahmedabad 6 250 25 275 Chennai 5 500 61.29 561.29 Total 56 2500 767.18 3267.18 Phase – II Guwahati 8 180 20 200 (c) & (d): The drainage systems in most Indian cities are designed based on average rainfall pattern in a city over previous decades. In case, rainfall records are not available, rainfall intensity is usually adopted in the range of 12 mm/hr – 20 mm/hr. The intensity of rainfall varies from city to city and designing of storm water drainage needs a city-specific approach. Usually, increased incidence of high intensity rainfall in short duration is mainly responsible for urban floods, which is further compounded by unplanned growth, encroachment of natural water bodies, inadequate sewer systems, inadequate rainwater drainage systems, encroachments, etc. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs does not centrally maintain the storm water drainage plans of cities/ towns. …3/--3- The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has published the following documents/advisory guidelines for improving urban drainage and flood management: i. Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014 (https://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/URDPFI%20Guidelines%20Vol%20I(2).pdf ) ii. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Urban Flooding (https://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/SOP%20Urban%20flooding_5%20May%202017.pdf) iii. River Centric Urban Planning Guidelines in 2021 to enable cities in the development of conjunctive water management approaches including nature-based solution (https://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/RCUP%20Guidelines.pdf) iv. Guidance Document on Creation of Rain Water Harvesting Parks (https://mohua.gov.in/pdf/6566e1048ab41guidance-document-on-rainwater-harvesting-parks- final.pdf) v. Manual on Storm Water Drainage System (https://mohua.gov.in/publication/manual-on- storm-water-drainage-systems--2019.php) National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has also issued Guidelines on Management of Urban Flooding. *****