Mumbai to Chennai: These coastal cities that may drown by 2050

Several Indian cities that lie near the sea may get submerged in the next 28 years due to the rise in water level, a study has revealed. According to the analysis by RMSI, some critical properties and road networks in Mumbai, Kochi, Mangalore, Chennai, Vishakapatnam, and Thiruvananthapuram will be drowned by 2050 because of the rise in sea level.

In a report in Hindustan Times,  Livemint's sister publication, the RMSI, a global risk management firm has found that Haji Ali Dargah Jawahar Lal Nehru Port Trust, Western Express Highway, Bandra-Worli Sea-link, and Queen’s Necklace on Marine drive are key infrastructures in Mumbai that are at risk of submergence.

As per the daily, RMSI’s experts created a high-resolution Digital Terrain Model (topography) for the coastline of the identified cities. They then used a coastal flood model to map the cities’ inundation levels based on various sea-level rise forecasts.

As per the analysis, around 998 buildings and 24 km of road length will be affected by potential sea-level rise by 2050 in Mumbai, and around 2,490 buildings and a road length of 126 km will be affected by a potential sea-level rise during the high tide in the city.

In Chennai, a road length of 5 km and 55 buildings are at the risk; in Kochi, around 464 buildings are likely to be impacted by 2050 with the number rising to around 1,502 buildings during high tide. In Thiruvananthapuram, due to sea-level rise by 2050 and sea-level rise with high tide, 349 and 387 buildings, respectively, are likely to be impacted. In Visakhapatnam, around 206 buildings and 9 km of the road network are likely to be inundated due to potential coastline changes by 2050, the daily added.

Pushpendra Johari, senior VP, Sustainability, RMSI Pvt Ltd. said the drowning of cities can be prevented with some interventions, such as land reclamation; increasing the height of roads, and strengthening buildings against corrosion or relocating them.

The amount of greenhouse gases like CO2 emitted by the world needs to peak by 2025 followed by a 43% reduction in the 10 years after to limit global warming to 1.5 degree C by the year 2100, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said on Monday.