Rain and repeat On extreme weather and governance - Beyond Borders By Prajila

The Hindu editorial on 04/09/2025 stresses that while extreme rainfall in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana has intensified flooding, much of the damage stems from governance failures and poor infrastructure upkeep. Reservoirs such as Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar were nearly full before sudden deluges, and neglected tributaries like Budameru, damaged sluices at Prakasam Barrage, and weakened floodbanks along the Godavari magnified risks. In cities, encroached drains and concretised surfaces worsened inundation. Although disaster management systems saved lives, long-term mitigation measures such as floodbank strengthening, diversion channels, and reservoir management through real-time modelling remain unfinished. The editorial warns that blaming “extraordinary rains” risks fatalism, urging continuous maintenance, better urban planning, and anticipatory reforms to moderate future flood impacts.