Rethink Srinagar: Building a city that absorbs rain instead of drowning in it

Why a Sponge City Mission could become Kashmir’s most important climate adaptation strategy

By Mauzam Bakshi

Every spell of intense rainfall in Srinagar now follows a familiar and deeply troubling pattern. Streets disappear beneath stagnant water, neighbourhoods are inundated, traffic comes to a standstill, drains overflow within hours and emergency pumps struggle to keep pace. Yet, even as millions of litres of rainwater flood the city, groundwater levels continue to decline, wetlands shrink under relentless encroachment, and concerns over future water security continue to grow.

This paradox defines one of Srinagar’s greatest environmental challenges. The city is simultaneously experiencing floods and water scarcity because it has steadily lost the natural systems that once absorbed, stored and slowly released rainwater.

What appears to be a drainage problem is, in reality, an ecological crisis.

The answer may not lie in building ever-larger drains or pumping stations alone. It lies in fundamentally rethinking how Srinagar manages water.

Across the world, cities facing similar climate challenges are embracing an innovative urban planning philosophy known as the “Sponge City” approach. Instead of treating rainfall as a nuisance to be disposed of as quickly as possible, sponge cities treat every drop of rain as a valuable resource.

Rainwater is captured where it falls, allowed to infiltrate naturally into the ground, recharge aquifers, nourish wetlands and green spaces, and enter rivers gradually rather than overwhelming them during intense rainfall.

China has emerged as a global pioneer of this approach, investing heavily in transforming cities into more climate-resilient urban landscapes through green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. The broader lesson is clear: restoring natural hydrological systems can provide long-term protection that concrete infrastructure alone cannot deliver.

For Srinagar, this is far more than an international success story. It is a model that aligns remarkably well with the city’s own geography, ecology and hydrology.

Nestled within the floodplain of the River Jhelum and surrounded by an interconnected network of lakes, marshes and wetlands, Srinagar was, in many ways, designed by nature to function as a giant sponge.

Wetlands such as Hokersar, Shallabugh and Anchar, together with numerous marshes and flood basins, absorbed excess rainwater, moderated floods, replenished groundwater and gradually released stored water into the Jhelum system.

Over the past several decades, however, rapid urbanisation, wetland encroachments, indiscriminate concretisation, shrinking drainage channels and the disappearance of open spaces have severely weakened this natural flood-buffering system.

The devastating floods of September 2014 exposed the consequences of disturbing this delicate hydrological balance. Since then, climate change has further complicated the challenge, with short-duration, high-intensity rainfall events increasingly capable of overwhelming conventional storm-water drainage systems.

Simply constructing larger drains will not provide a lasting solution. Srinagar’s future depends on restoring its ecological infrastructure alongside its engineering infrastructure.

This is precisely where the Sponge City philosophy offers a transformative vision.

The objective is not to rebuild Srinagar from scratch. It is to redesign its existing urban landscape so that every road, park, school, residential colony and public space contributes to managing rainwater naturally.

The foremost priority must be the scientific restoration of Srinagar’s wetlands. Hokersar, Shallabugh, Anchar, Brari Nambal and associated marshes should no longer be viewed merely as biodiversity hotspots. They are also the city’s natural flood-control reservoirs.

Removing encroachments, restoring feeder channels, reconnecting floodplains and improving wetland hydrology would significantly enhance their capacity to store floodwaters while simultaneously improving water quality, biodiversity and groundwater recharge.

The River Jhelum should become the backbone of an integrated urban water-management system.

Instead of rapidly channelling stormwater into the river through concrete drains, runoff should first pass through wetlands, bioswales, infiltration basins and open spaces. These nature-based systems can slow the movement of water, filter pollutants, trap sediments, recharge groundwater and reduce flood peaks before excess water reaches the river.

Equally important is a change in how Srinagar designs its streets and public spaces.

Wherever technically feasible, footpaths, parking areas, cycle tracks and pedestrian pathways should incorporate permeable paving that allows rainwater to seep into the soil. Tree-lined avenues with vegetated swales can intercept runoff, reduce urban heat, improve air quality and minimise waterlogging during heavy rainfall.

Public parks, playgrounds and open spaces should also be redesigned to function as temporary flood-storage areas during extreme rainfall events. Rather than viewing water as something that must immediately be pushed out of the city, urban planning should create safe spaces where excess water can temporarily accumulate and gradually infiltrate or drain away.

Dal Lake and Nigeen Lake should form the heart of Srinagar’s blue-green infrastructure network.

Protecting their feeder channels, restoring surrounding marshlands, improving catchment management and reconnecting fragmented water bodies will not only improve lake health but also strengthen their role in flood regulation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable tourism.

Technology, meanwhile, must complement ecological restoration.

Real-time rainfall monitoring, GIS-based flood mapping, hydrological modelling, smart stormwater sensors and digital early-warning systems can help authorities identify emerging waterlogging hotspots, improve operational responses and guide future urban planning based on scientific evidence rather than crisis management.

But no technological solution can substitute for institutional coordination.

Such a transformation will require the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, Srinagar Smart City Limited, the Lakes Conservation and Management Authority, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, the Srinagar Development Authority, the Housing and Urban Development Department, universities, research institutions and civil society to work together under a common vision.

The Government of J&K should therefore establish a dedicated Srinagar Sponge City Mission, with clearly defined objectives, measurable targets, scientific monitoring and long-term funding.

Existing programmes, including AMRUT 2.0, Smart Cities initiatives, Jal Shakti programmes, disaster-risk reduction schemes and climate-adaptation funds, can be strategically integrated to finance this transition without necessarily creating entirely new funding structures.

Srinagar still possesses an extraordinary advantage that many rapidly expanding cities have already lost. Its interconnected network of lakes, wetlands, flood basins and waterways survives, although under mounting pressure.

If these natural systems are protected, restored and integrated into urban planning, they can once again become the city’s first line of defence against floods while securing its long-term water future.

China’s Sponge City Programme offers an important lesson: investing in nature can be as important as investing in concrete—and, in many circumstances, more sustainable.

Srinagar has the hydrological setting, ecological wealth and institutional capacity to aspire to become India’s first Himalayan Sponge City. What it now requires is political vision, scientific planning and the collective determination to work with nature rather than against it.

The debate before Srinagar is no longer about whether climate change will reshape the city. It already is.

The real question is whether the city will continue reacting to every flood with emergency pumping, temporary repairs and escalating costs, or seize this moment to redesign itself for a more resilient future.

Rethinking Srinagar through a Sponge City Mission is not simply about managing rainwater. It is about restoring the ecological intelligence on which the city was originally built.

In an era of climate uncertainty, that may prove to be the most important investment Kashmir can make for generations yet to come.