Rivers Remember - Book Analysis Essay

Introduction

'Rivers Remember' is a book that was written by Krupa Ge in 2015. The author narrates the flooding story that occurred in Chennai city, located in Southern India. Through the story, Ge reveals the effects of humankind's negligence on taking care of the environment. Additionally, the author shows the failure of local authorities to control sewage and floodwaters that result to the flooding disaster in the city. Primarily, the book focuses on the factors that contributed to the drowning of the city and the possibility of the floods occurring again.

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The book focuses on rapid growth and transformation as among the factors that contribute to the feasibility of disasters in a city. Growth in the city results in the change in governance practices and social relations, such as the rise of middle and poor class people. For instance, Chennai city had experienced rapid growth, such as power installation, proper housing, and infrastructure development (Ge, 2015). Therefore, more people migrated from rural areas to the city. As a result, there was an increase in population in the city. In 2015, the population increased beyond capacity. Consequently, the local authorities had difficulties in providing clean water as well as sewage services in the town.

The local authority, therefore, changed the governance practices by employing favoritism to the regions occupied by the middle-class individuals. As a result, the social relation between the poor and the middle-class individuals was adversely affected. The poor people were left in the areas with faulty sewage lines, flooding houses, and blackout experiences (Ge, 2015). Primarily, the book describes the human-made scenario that resulted in the flooding disaster in the city during the period of rapid growth and transformation.

Constraints Faced by Citizens in the Engagement With Local Authorities

The book addresses the challenges that are faced by citizens in the engagement with the authorities during the floods. Among the constraints is the lack of effective communication. In the story, water gets into the houses and damages equipment such as telephones (Ge, 2015). Therefore, the citizens have difficulties in notifying the authorities about the disaster. An effective communication method allows the people to inform the leaders about the disaster hence triggering them to send help for the people (Mohammadi et al., 2018). The local governments are obligated to bring services such as disaster management close to the people. Therefore, a poor communication system becomes a challenge to the local authorities in offering services to the citizens.

Low literacy level is another constraint that the city's residents face while engaging with the local governments during the flooding disaster. In the narrative, Ge shows that the local authorities take advantage of the low education levels in the city and misguide the citizens about the floods. In Chennai's case, the people did not recognize that the flows in their houses were sewage (Ge, 2015). The local authorities, therefore, failed to alert the citizens on the dangers of the floods in their houses. As a result, the floods became severe and caused detrimental effects in the city.

Urban Planning and Practices That Lead to Floods

Urban flooding mainly results from poor planning and practices within the city. In the book, the author describes various planning factors that resulted in the disaster in Chennai city. Encroachment of the active flood areas is among the urban practices that cause floods in the city. In the case of Chennai floods, the citizens encroached the Cauvery River, which was a source of water for the people in the city (Ge, 2015). As a result, they started farming at the river banks, which eventually destroyed the features that prevented water overflow. Ultimately, the river's channels were destroyed, thus giving room for flooding during heavy rainfall. Ideally, human encroachment to the rivers prone to flooding significantly contributes to the disaster in a city.

Poor waste disposal management is another cause of urban flooding in the cities. In the urban planning process, the planners develop a drainage system for liquid waste materials and garbage sites for solid matters (Liao, 2019). Disposing solid waste in the drainage system results in the blockage of the pipes. As a result, the sewage lines fail to flow the waste, thus causing the flooding in the city. According to the book, the primary source of floods in Chennai city was sewage waste. This aspect indicates that the city was poorly planned during the development.

Lack of flood risk assessment systems in a city is another planning failure that results in urban flooding. The floods in Chennai caught the citizens in a surprise. The surprise is an indication that the town lacked a system to warn the people about the floods before they occurred. Flood risk assessment systems enable the authorities to determine the feasibility of the disaster occurring and develop contingency and mitigation actions (Liao, 2018). Lack of such systems, therefore, results to surprise floods in urban areas.

The Image of Chennai City From the Book

The author describes various attributes of Chennai city from the book. Chennai city was crossed by rivers such as Kosasthalaiyar, Adyar, and Cooum (Ge, 2015). Human practices near and on these rivers played a crucial role in causing the flooding disaster. Additionally, the author states that the city was occupied by people who maintained and repaired the water bodies (Ge, 2015). This attribute shows the efforts the residents put into preventing the floods and their city from drowning. The city comprised of middle-class people who lived in the apartments and the poor people who settled near the river banks. Primarily, the city was a beautiful city that embraced social relations.

Urbanism in India and Asia

The city of Chennai in the book relates to the modern cities in India and Asia. For instance, the book describes the rapid transformation and growth of the town. The Asian and Indian cities in the recent past have recorded improvement and massive transformation in the look as well as the planning (Mitra & Kumar, 2015). Another evidence found in the book is the presence of formal and modern houses in Chennai city. In a bid to enhance urbanization in India, the government has encouraged formal housing for the citizens. The presence of local authorities in the towns is evidence in the book that relates to urbanization in India and Asia. In the countries, the cities are governed by municipal councils, which are part of the local governments (Mitra & Kumar, 2015). This relationship is evidence that the book relates to the modern urbanization in the Indian and Asian cities.

Conclusion

The book 'River Remember' is a narrative that effectively describes the flooding disaster in Chennai city. The story plays a role in explaining the challenges that are associated with urbanization. The book describes Chennai as a developing city, and the evidence relates to the modern urbanism in Indian and Asian Countries. Primarily, the book is an effective material about urban disasters such as flooding in cities.

References

Ge, K. (2015). Rivers Remember. Chennai, India: Westland Publishers. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Rivers-Remember-Shocking-Truth-Manmade-ebook/dp/B07RWBZVPZ

Liao, K. (2019). A Theory on Urban Resilience to Floods-A Basis for Alternative Planning Practices. Ecology and Society 17(4). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272662905_A_Theory_on_Urban_Resilience_to_Floods

Mitra, A., & Kumar, R. (2015). New patterns in Indian urbanization: the emergence of census towns. Environment and Urbanization in Asia. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0975425315583755

Mohammadi, H., Norazizan, S., & Nikkhah, A. (2018). Conflicting perceptions of participation between citizens and members of local government. Quality & quantity, 52(4), 1761-1778. doi:10.1007/s11135-017-0565-9