India's urban crisis demands urgent and coordinated city governance

From clogged drains to toxic air, India's cities face rising threats. Smarter planning and citizen engagement are key to recovery

Each year, World Habitat Day is celebrated on the first Monday of October to inspire debate on national policies and strategies around a particular theme. This year’s focus on Urban Crisis Response holds special relevance for India, which aims to harness the full potential of its cities as part of its national vision of a developed nation by 2047. However, the country faces serious threats to urban productivity and livability.

 

The crisis 

Two major threats—urban pollution and flooding—stand out as the most pressing challenges confronting Indian cities. As living organisms, cities suffer when their “arteries”—roads and drains—are blocked. 

 

Narrow streets reduce mobility and hamper emergency responses to fire and floods, while footpaths are often missing or encroached upon, adversely affecting pedestrians, especially children, senior citizens, and the physically challenged. Only a fraction of city roads has storm water drainage systems, which are frequently choked with silt, uncollected garbage, and mixed sewage, as revealed in a recent IIT Delhi study. Most roads are not designed to handle runoff from impervious surfaces or shrinking water bodies, nor do they integrate rainwater harvesting, leaving them vulnerable to increasingly intense and unpredictable rainfall. 

 

 

Adding to this, the practice of reactive, breakdown-based maintenance compounds the crisis, making cities less resilient to shocks.

 

Impact of urban mismanagement 

The economic costs of urban flooding are estimated at about US$4 billion annually. Pollution-related losses amount to as much as six per cent of GDP, as observed in Delhi—one of the world’s most polluted capitals. Around seven per cent of deaths in major Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru, are caused by air pollution. Lost working hours due to congestion, poor air quality, and diseases transmitted through polluted water and air worsen the burden, resulting in premature deaths and widespread illness.

 

Why the crisis persists 

The persistence of the urban crisis can be traced to six major factors. 

 

First, there is a general disregard for natural water flow, as seen in Chennai, Bengaluru, Gurugram, and Mumbai. Second, cities lack exclusive and integrated plans for roads and drainage systems, often treating them as separate infrastructure concerns. Third, the financial and technical capacity of urban local bodies (ULBs) remains weak, with an average of 37 per cent vacancies across major states and cases of a single engineer managing multiple towns. Jharkhand, among the weakest, has filled only four per cent of its municipal vacancies. 

 

Fourth, the multiplicity of agencies handling roads and drainage creates duplication and confusion; for instance, Delhi has nine such agencies without unified accountability. Fifth, the absence of coordinated regional planning prevents the smooth connection of drainage systems and impedes traffic management across city regions. Lastly, the lack of Janbhagidari—citizen participation—has slowed the adoption of corrective and preventive measures that could build resilience at the community level.

 

Government initiatives and investments

 

In recent years, the Ministries of Home Affairs and Environment have launched specific programmes to address urban flooding and pollution. These include the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP, ₹20,000 crore) and Urban Flood Risk Management (UFRM-I for metros and UFRM-II for tier II and III cities, ₹5,000 crore). The Smart Cities Mission (recently concluded) and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT 2.0, following AMRUT 1.0 with ₹66,750 crore disbursed) have also focused on roads, drainage, sewage, and water bodies.

 

Action plan for resilient cities  Despite these initiatives, progress remains limited. Nonetheless, several innovative practices provide a foundation for scaling up. A comprehensive action plan is essential:

1. Prepare exclusive, integrated plans for roads and related services (drainage, green spaces, etc.) at both ULB and regional levels. Delhi and Pune have initiated drainage plans but require regional convergence, as Gurugram is now planning a drain to channel water into the Yamuna at Palwal. 
2. Implement innovative traffic management systems to reduce congestion and commuting time. 
3. Conserve water bodies and introduce rainwater harvesting (RWH) in a time-bound manner—Chennai has identified 210 water bodies for floodwater diversion.
4. Reclaim low-lying waste-dump areas, such as Chennai’s 17-acre site, to create new water bodies. 
5. Develop water ring roads to restrict external runoff and provide outlets for excess water, following Assam’s example. 
6. Identify flood hotspots like Pune and establish early-warning systems through Integrated Command and Control Centres. 
7. Ensure routine maintenance of roads and SWDs, including timely desilting, encroachment removal, and infrastructure repair. 
8. Conduct regular safety and structural audits of roads, footpaths, and drains. ULBs should adopt Standard Operating Procedures for road and drainage management. 
9. Address manpower shortages by filling vacancies and reducing overreliance on outsourcing. Regular staff training must be institutionalised. 
10. Promote Janbhagidari to protect footpaths, conserve water bodies, follow RWH rules, and maintain drainage systems—drawing inspiration from Mizoram’s Hnatlang model of voluntary civic contribution. 
11. Use the Urban Challenge Fund (₹10,000 crore, announced in the Union Budget) to support innovative redevelopment projects. 
12. Strengthen intergovernmental synergy and convergence of schemes at the grassroots level.

 

The way forward 

India’s urban future depends not only on funding but also on foresight and citizen participation. Integrating technology, planning, and community action is essential to prevent recurring crises. Empowered local bodies, consistent governance, and active public involvement can transform India’s cities into resilient, sustainable engines of national growth.

 

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The writer is coordinator, Centre for Urban Studies, Indian Institute of Public Administration 

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