1. Concerns before and after the flood

Another one is that before the flood, it was a house and it was like that, then the local government started to elevate the road okay simply elevated the road year after year. But as a result what happened they can see that it makes the houses more vulnerable water can easily come to house and it is really risky for them. So these are some of the concern they shared.

The local government elevated the roads over several years without considering the impact on nearby houses. This elevation caused houses to become more susceptible to flooding, allowing water to flow into them easily. Residents expressed this concern, highlighting the risks they faced as a result of this decision.

Imagine living in a neighborhood where the roads are gradually raised but the houses remain the same height. It's like if you put your house on a lower hill while the surrounding ground is lifted; during rain, all the water would naturally flow toward your house, making it an easy target for flooding.

There is also an encroachment by on Mithi river some people are encroaching, this is a Mithi river you can see that new constructions arouses. So municipal authority actually demolished these places recently, but again new constructions are coming. So these some of the facts people have shared.

Encroachment refers to the act of building structures on land that is not owned or permissible, in this case, on the banks of the Mithi River. Despite municipal authorities demolishing illegal constructions, new buildings continue to emerge, reducing the river's capacity to manage flood water and posing additional risks to the area.

Think of a river as a natural pathway for water during heavy rains. If people build homes too close to this river, it's like blocking a lane of traffic; the water has nowhere to go, and it can cause big problems, like flooding people's homes.

What we found that in 1980 it was a mangrove area totally on Mithi river, that is the road, and this is the Dharavi area, but it was actually a mangrove areas. In 1990 in the early 1990s or late 1980s some settlements have come especially the construction workers they started to build temporary houses, in 1995 that is also increasing you can see again 2000, 2005, and 2013.

Historically, the Mithi river area was covered with mangroves, which acted as natural defenses against flooding. However, by the late 1980s, people began to build temporary homes in the area, which gradually led to the settlement population increasing over the years from 1990 to 2013, altering the land's natural properties.

Consider how a forest acts like a sponge that absorbs water. If people cut down that forest and build homes instead, there’s nothing left to hold the water back, making flooding more likely. This is similar to what happened as more people settled in the Mithi river area.

The flood level in 2005 and these areas, the red mark areas close to the Mithi river, these areas were around six to ten feet of water, six to ten feet that is more than a human height and also they had two to five feet in most of the parts and close to the road they were not much suffered, only one feet of water.

In the flood of 2005, certain areas near the Mithi river experienced significant water levels ranging from six to ten feet, which is taller than most people. Other parts of the area encountered lower flooding, around one to four feet, showing a correlation between proximity to the river and flood intensity, which impacted how severely different locations suffered.

Imagine trying to walk through a pool that is six feet deep; you would need to swim! In the 2005 flood, many homes were submerged in deep water, similar to how someone would struggle in a swimming pool, while houses further from the river only faced minor flooding.

In waterlogging, they were facing annual waterlogging in these series, and you can see here that most of the building most of the houses they face this one to two feet waterlogging annually and it continues for around two to three hours most of the cases okay, some are less some are more like that. It was the damage to building and damage to household, durable asset due to 2005 flood you can see those houses which are close to the Mahim Creek or Mithi river they were the most affected households by they had total damage okay. A major damage you can see also in the middle and people who are close to and they have less damage.

Every year, homes in the area face waterlogging, with one to two feet of water collecting for hours after heavy rains. The 2005 flood exacerbated this, causing severe damage to houses close to the Mahim Creek and Mithi river. Those homes suffered complete damage, losing essential items and the structure itself, while homes further from the water experienced less damage.

Think about a sponge that gets soaked with water. If you keep pouring water on it, it can’t hold more and starts leaking, damaging everything nearby. In the same way, homes near the rivers could not withstand the excessive flooding from the rain and faced significant destruction.

After we finish this exercise of connecting many more mappings and all we ask people that hey please mark us that what how you involved into this project of risk mapping, was it successful or not. So most of the cases we did very well like early engagement, representation of just stakeholder, continuity engagements clear and agreed object. But some cases right we have less resource availability.

After assessing the community's flood risks through mapping exercises, the researchers asked residents for feedback on their participation in the project. They found that while successful community engagement occurred in many cases, there were issues such as limited resources that hindered some aspects of the project.

Think about a group project in school. If everyone helps out, it can be successful, but if some group members don’t have the right materials or information, it can be tough to finish well. In flood risk mapping, the same idea applies—the success relies on everyone's active participation and the right tools.

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