Visakhapatnam: Inundation, water logging and floods in the city have been predicted in a working paper titled Planning Climate Resilient Coastal Cities Learning from Visakhapatnam by the Energy and Resources Institute.
The study identified hotspots in and around the city that are vulnerable to storm surges and flooding due to cyclones. Vizag Airport, Vizag Port Trust areas, Gangavaram port, Beach Road, Gajuwaka and Vizag railway station were found to be vulnerable to sea level rise, storm surges, flood inundation and other climactic changes owing to their elevation of less than the projected Mean Sea Level (MSL) demarcated.
Some of the vulnerable areas are residential, institutional, commercial, heritage sites and ecologically sensitive areas. The study evaluated rainfall trends between 1979 to 2009 and observed that while the total monsoon rains had decreased during the period, there was a rise in extreme rainfall incidents in the region.
The . An Inter-governmental panel on climate change and the environment ministry had said there would be a high probability of increase in the intensity of cyclonic events on the east coast where the proposed “Smart City” is expected.
