Navi Mumbai: New research from New Zealand has raised alarms about rising sea levels, warning that they could simultaneously push groundwater levels higher, increasing the risk of inland flooding. Based on the report’s outcome, Environmental groups have urged disaster management authorities to prepare for floods from beneath the land.
Citing a study focused on Dunedin, a coastal city in New Zealand, the NatConnect Foundation has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take note of the findings. The research suggests that rising sea levels may alter groundwater levels, exacerbating inland flooding hazards. The findings were recently published in a science journal by AGU, a global organization representing over half a million Earth and space science professionals.
The report highlights that South Dunedin already experiences periodic flooding, a problem expected to worsen with rising sea levels. Researchers have described the city as a model case for how New Zealand communities are responding to climate change and coastal threats.
“These findings reinforce our longstanding demand to conserve wetlands, which act as natural urban sponges and protect river floodplains,” said B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation. He urged authorities to preserve spaces for water expansion rather than burying natural water bodies under the guise of infrastructure development.
Kumar emphasized the need for proactive disaster prevention, warning that the government’s anti-environment policies and disregard for ecological threats are inviting disasters. He also called on the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MOEFCC) and the Geological Survey of India to study coastal groundwater tables alongside rising sea levels.
NatConnect has expressed concern that, apart from a brief government report on coastal erosion, there has been little serious discussion about the risks posed by rising sea levels—despite India’s 7,500 km-long coastline.
“We are recklessly altering Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMP) to accommodate real estate and infrastructure projects, putting lives and properties at risk,” said Nandakumar Pawar, director of NGO Sagar Shakti.
Governments are spending crores in flood relief for areas like Uran and Panvel talukas, where intertidal wetlands have been destroyed for development, forcing water to seek alternative paths, Pawar pointed out.
This problem is expected to worsen in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), where wetlands are vanishing rapidly, and key agencies like CIDCO, JNPA, and MMRDA continue to neglect ecological concerns.
Kumar noted that the New Zealand researchers relied on groundwater sensor data collected between 2019 and 2023 from 35 monitoring stations across Dunedin’s low-lying coastal areas—locations where much of the city’s infrastructure is concentrated.
“This situation is strikingly similar to Uran, where flooding occurs even during non-monsoon months,” Pawar added.
