UPSC Mains 2024 GS3 Q18 — Urban flooding
Flooding in urban areas is as emerging climate-induced disaster. Discuss the causes of this disaster. Mention the features of two major floods in the last two decades in India. Describe the policies and frameworks in India that aim at tackling such floods. (Answer in 250 words) 15
Question Decoded — examiner's intent
- Directive verbs
- DiscussMentionDescribe
- Scope keywords
- Flooding in urban areasemerging climate-induced disastercauses of this disasterfeatures of two major floodspolicies and frameworks in India
- Implicit sub-parts
- The 'Climate-Urban' Nexus: How climate change specifically exacerbates the existing structural vulnerabilities of cities.
- Categorization of causes into Anthropogenic (encroachment, drainage) and Natural (extreme rainfall events).
- Comparative analysis of the two chosen flood events to highlight different failure points (e.g., dam management vs. drainage failure).
- Critical evaluation of the transition from reactive relief to proactive mitigation in national policies.
- Common pitfalls
- Focusing only on general rural/riverine flooding rather than the unique 'Urban Heat Island' and 'impervious surface' effects specific to cities.
- Failing to name two specific case studies from the last 20 years (e.g., Mumbai 2005, Chennai 2015, or Bengaluru 2022) and only giving vague descriptions.
- Ignoring the Sendai Framework or the NDMA Guidelines on Management of Urban Flooding (2010) while listing policies.
- Spending too much time on causes and leaving no space for the 'Policies and Frameworks' section which carries equal weight.
- Dimensions required
- Environmental (Climate change and hydrological impacts)Infrastructure & Planning (Drainage, land-use, and town planning)Legal/Policy (NDMA Act, State-level SOPs, and sponge city concepts)Administrative (Institutional coordination between ULBs and State Govts)
- Marks allocation hint
Allocate approximately 75 words to the causes (Climate vs. Man-made), 75 words to the two specific case studies (focusing on their unique features), and 100 words to policies and frameworks including NDMA guidelines and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).
Unlock the full analysis for this question
You've seen the question and its examiner-intent decoding. Subscribers also get:
- 🔗 Similar Previous Year Questions — cross-year, cross-paper matches so you study the topic, not the question
- 📚 Source Map — verified citations from Laxmikanth, NCERT, PRS, Yojana, Economic Survey, Spectrum
- 🌱 How this topic is evolving — current-affairs bridge anchored to live TARS news clustering
- 🧭 Examiner's Pattern — how the topic has been framed across every year UPSC has tested it
- ✍️ Answer Skeleton — a structured outline (intro → body → conclusion) you can flesh out
- 🎯 AI evaluation — write your answer, get rubric-based scoring from gs-eval
Or browse 132+ free preview questions across all years and papers — the first 3 questions of every paper are unlocked.
Ready to practice?
Subscribers can attempt this question in 250 words and get an instant, rubric-based evaluation showing where they stand.
Subscribe to evaluate your answer →