On Wednesday, Cochin International Airport reopened. For two weeks the airport in the city of Kochi had been closed after being inundated with waters from a flood that ravaged the Indian state, Kerala, killing more than 400 people. Bridges collapsed, forests fell, and homes were swept away in landslides. In addition to the devastating loss of life, the recovery and reconstruction cost is estimated to be billions of dollars.
This was not the first, or even the second time, a flood has wreaked such havoc in India—and it is likely not the last. Every time a disaster like this hits, Indian politicians from opposing parties quibble about the relief efforts, but there is seldom a meaningful discussion about the fact that these disasters were, at least in part, man-made: a result of haphazard urbanization and badly planned water-management infrastructure.
