India is urbansing very fast and small towns are becoming cities, but the new urban centres are yet to put in place preventive measures to save lives and property from natural disasters, a World Bank report has wanred.

“India’s growing cities will expose more people and property to hazards, with an estimated 200 million city dwellers likely to be exposed to storms and earthquakes by 2050 almost three times more than the estimated 70 million today,” said the report titled ‘Natural Hazards, Unnatural Disasters: The Economics of Effective Prevention.’

It said that nearly 500 million citizens across rural and urban India have been affected by floods alone during the last three decades. It added, “Many cities are outgrowing the capacity of roads, water supply, and sewage disposal systems to serve their inhabitants even in the vaunted homes of high-tech industries like Bangalore, India. These are the cities where dangers may be unnecessarily high.”

The report noted that abolishing rent and price controls would be beneficial to upkeep buildings in Mumbai. "Property owners often neglected maintenance, causing buildings to collapse during rains. Policies that provide secure ownership of property would also serve as incentive for owners to invest in safer construction and better maintenance," it held.

Citing the ministry of home affairs figures, the report said, “In India, annual losses from natural hazards have more than tripled over the last three decades, with cumulative losses over this period estimated at over $48 billion. Nearly 500 million citizens, across rural and urban India, have been affected by floods alone during this period.”

Prevention measures can lower vulnerability to natural hazards such as earthquakes, storms, floods and droughts, according to the report.
The report also talked about future vulnerabilities from the climate change. “By 2100, even without climate change, damages from weather-related hazards may triple to US$1 billion annually and factoring in climate change could push costs even higher,” the report noted.

Read the report