Where the Floods Begin: Climate Change and Inequality Along Ambil Stream

Issues and questions related to climate change have emerged prominently across global headlines in contemporary media spaces — whether we choose to pay attention to them or not, and whether we fully comprehend their consequences or not. Climate reporting now occupies news space once largely reserved for the two most enduring universal themes: politics and human disasters. Increasingly, each passing day for humanity is marked by climate punishment and extreme environmental distress.

We sweat and freeze under its debilitating sway. Wells run dry, crops wilt, houses are uprooted and reduced to rubble and mud by floods and cyclones. Yet we often continue as though nothing fundamental has changed.

Climate change denial is no longer an option for humanity at large. Recognising this stark reality, The AIDEM is partnering with ACJ to take a decisive first step toward becoming one of the early media platforms in India to address climate change through diverse, ground-level perspectives.

This video and article series brings to audiences a distinctive mix of voices. With thanks to the Climate Change Media Hub of the Asian College of Journalism (CCMH), which is a media education programme for young journalists to report on environmental issues.
In this article Madhura Bhaskar Shelke, Mentee with ACJ’s CCMH writes on Pune’s climate crisis that manifests as seasonal floods.

When the monsoon arrives in Pune, anxiety rises along the Mula-Mutha. But in many neighbourhoods, flooding begins earlier- along Ambil Stream. It is one of the city’s first floodlines and a major drainage channel carrying runoff from southern Pune. In monsoons, families stay awake watching the narrow channel swell within minutes, ready to run if water enters their homes.

“Even remembering that night in 2019 gives us chills,” said Vinod, a 42-year-old resident living in low-lying informal settlements close to the stream. “The water rose almost to our roofs. We escaped by climbing from one rooftop to another, carrying our two teenage daughters and my 70-year-old mother. Living nearest to Ambil is where flooding begins first.”

To understand why flooding recurs here, it helps to look at the role streams like Ambil play in Pune’s landscape.

Streams are Pune’s First Flood Lines: Why Ambil Stream Matters?

Major Pune’s flood crisis begins with the city’s network of streams and drainage channels-  Ambil Stream, Ram Nadi, Dev Nadi, Nagzari and smaller streams. They carry the first surge of monsoon runoff through densely built neighbourhoods. During short, high-intensity rainfall bursts, these channels can swell rapidly, triggering inundation in low-lying settlements long before the Mutha or Mula rise visibly.

Among them, Ambil Stream has emerged as one of Pune’s most vulnerable flash-flood corridors. Stretching nearly 16 kilometres and draining roughly 30 square kilometres of southern Pune, it flows from the hills near Katraj and Padmavati through Parvati and Sahakar Nagar, past dense settlements around Dattawadi and Dandekar Bridge, before joining the Mutha.

Those recurring floods are closely tied to how Ambil Stream itself has changed over time.

(Ambil Stream Network Map- source: Quantitative Morphometric Analysis of Ambil Stream (Rivulet) In Pune, Maharashtra, India. Shrikant M. Gabale and Nikhil R. Pawar)

(Dense settlement around Ambil stream- Source: Quantitative Morphometric Analysis of Ambil Stream (Rivulet) In Pune, Maharashtra, India. Shrikant M. Gabale and Nikhil R. Pawar)

Why this is still an issue today- Floods Still Persist Years Later

Since the 2019 flash floods, Pune has repeatedly witnessed short, intense monsoon downpours, with extreme rain becoming a regular trigger for flooding. Rainfall-event studies show that the city has recorded several very heavy rainfall episodes exceeding 100 mm in a single day in years such as 2020, 2022 and 2024, overwhelming stormwater drains and smaller streams like Ambil Odha. Longer-term analyses also indicate that extreme rainfall days have become more common over recent decades, particularly in the post-2000 period, IMD Reports

“Every year, water still enters our homes,” said Swapnil, a 30-year-old resident living along Ambil Stream. “In recent years, it doesn’t just come from the stream – heavy rainfall causes the surge. It overwhelms the drainage system laid close to our houses. The flood protection wall blocks the flow, and the backwater floods straight into our lanes. Because we live in the lowest-lying area, the water stays for a long time before it drains away.”

Ambil Odha’s Transformation

Ms. Shailaja Deshpande, environmentalist and founder-director of the Pune-based Jeevitnadi organisation, explains that Ambil was once a wide and powerful stream central to Pune’s early settlement geography. During the Chhatrapati Shivaji-era establishment of Kasba Peth, the city’s water needs were met largely through streams such as Ambil and Nagzari.

The first major engineering intervention came in the early 18th century under Nanasaheb Peshwa, as Pune expanded into a capital city. Historically, Ambil was a “mighty stream,” wide enough to spread monsoon waters across a broader floodplain.

When the stream’s course was shifted southwest towards Saras Baug, bunds and lakes were built to hold floodwaters, including storage spaces near Padmavati and what are now known as Katraj lake and the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park waterbody. Saras Baug, too, once functioned as a large flood-accommodating lake. 

“That ecological accommodation eroded over time,” Ms Shailaja said. “During British rule, Ambil was embanked with gabion walls, constricting its original width near the source. In recent decades, further narrowing across the city has reduced its capacity. Ambil still experiences flash floods because of its geology, but repeated constrictions have made it far more vulnerable.”

Those historical changes continue to shape how water moves through the city today.

Runoff, Walls, and a New Layer of Risk

The expert links this to wider watershed changes upstream. Ambil, she noted, is fed by micro-streams from hills such as Parvati and Taljai-  pathways that once slowed monsoon runoff before it reached the main channel. As these smaller stream orders disappear under paving and development, water rushes downhill faster, intensifying flash floods.

(Concrete embankments have constricted Ambil Odha’s natural width, leaving little space for floodwaters near nearby settlement near Dandekar bridge)

“Building protection walls is not going to solve Ambil’s problem,” Ms. Shailaja cautioned, arguing instead for buffer zones and planning that follows the geography of the stream rather than piecemeal engineering fixes.

Over the past decades, Ambil Odha has been steadily narrowed through embankments, concretisation and construction along its banks, while domestic waste and construction debris increasingly choke its flow during heavy rain.

Resident Memory and Fear

In these neighbourhoods, flooding is not measured only in water levels, but in the speed with which ordinary life collapses. 

“When the water started rising that night in September 2019, it filled so fast we had no time to think,” said Usha a 51 year-old resident living close to Ambil Odha. “I grabbed my child and ran, leaving everything behind. The water rose almost to the switchboards. Tiles came loose, walls cracked, and even today the dampness remains. ”

Her voice broke as she spoke of what she lost most. “I built this home over 20 years as a single mother, and it was ruined in one night. But the most precious thing I lost was my marriage album – the last memory I had of my husband.”

(Moisture stains and cracked walls show the lasting impact of repeated flooding in settlements near Dandekar bridge,  Ambil Odha.)

Usha, A 51 year old affected resident recall that Ambil Odha was once part of everyday life. Evenings were spent beside its clearer waters, cooking dinner under starry skies, listening to flowing water’s  “melodious rhythm.” Garbage was not thrown into it, because we believe the stream is sacred. It is centre of our living our house construction to our livelihood could sustain because of the stream.

Today, that relationship has turned into fear.

“When the rain starts at night, no one really sleep, vinod, a 42 year- old resident also a lead of family said. “One of us stays awake to watch the water. We don’t know when it will enter again.

Working-Class Communities Living on the Edge

“This is the only land in Pune we could ever call ours,” said Rajaram, a 60-year-old resident, whose family has lived along Ambil Odha for two generations. “My grandfather settled here. Most of us are workers without fixed pay – domestic helpers, barbers, rickshaw drivers, sanitation workers. We can’t afford anywhere more expensive, and our jobs are nearby.”

He gestured toward the settlement clustered along the stream. “Yes, Ambil has brought frightening incidents. But it has also supported nearly 500 homes here- families who travelled from the corners of Maharashtra just to earn a livelihood. We even pay municipal taxes. This place means everything to us. Where will we go?” 

Many families living along the stream are also essential to the city’s functioning. Several work directly for the Pune Municipal Corporation as sanitation workers, sweepers and contract staff responsible for maintaining public spaces. Residents say it adds another layer of injustice that those employed in keeping the city clean are themselves forced to live on one of its most hazardous floodlines.

It is not just stormwater, but also sewage water, entering people’s homes

For residents along Ambil Odha, floods are not only about rising water, but about what the water carries. Pune’s sewage and drainage lines are closely interconnected, residents say, and untreated wastewater from upstream localities often flows directly into the stream even before heavy rain begins. During intense monsoon spells, this sewage mixes with floodwater as the stream overflows, turning it black, foul-smelling, and heavier in both volume and contamination.

Once such polluted water enters homes, the aftermath can last far longer than the flood itself. Residents describe thick slurry settling on floors and walls, sometimes reaching up to 7- 8 feet, i.e., chest height, leaving families struggling to clean for days. 

(Sewage-contaminated floodwater inside a home near Ambil Stream, where residents say cleaning and recovery can take weeks)

“After the water enters, it takes nearly two weeks to clean the house,” one resident said. “The smell stays for months. Even after the mud is gone, it doesn’t feel livable.”

Eviction as Flood Policy?

In recent years, the Pune Municipal Corporation has sought to address flood vulnerability along Ambil Odha by identifying settlements close to the stream as high-risk and proposing rehabilitation through Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes. Residents, however, say rehabilitation remains partial- many fall outside eligibility criteria, while others worry about affordability and the disruption relocation would bring.

“PMC did not respond to questions on how it plans to combine flood-risk reduction with long-term housing security for these neighbourhoods”, residents said

Climate Change and Pune’s Rainfall Future

Pune could see a 37% increase in extreme rainfall events, raising the likelihood of sudden flash floods along vulnerable floodlines, according to TERI’s Maharashtra State Adaptation Action Plan on Climate Change.(MSAAPC)

The memory of 2019- when flash floods claimed 21 lives- remains a stark reminder of how quickly extreme rain can turn deadly. As climate risks intensify, residents ask where informal settlements along streams stand in the city’s adaptation planning and how authorities will prepare for the next extreme rainfall event.

Ms Shailaja,  caution that while flood risk may not be eliminated entirely, the scale of damage is shaped by planning choices. They call for restoring buffer zones, retrofitting vulnerable stretches, and treating streams like Ambil as central flood corridors – planned by watershed geography rather than ward boundaries. Most importantly, long-term resilience will depend on stakeholders civic authorities, planners, housing societies, and Odha-side communities working together on solutions.

As climate change amplifies monsoon extremes, Ambil Stream offers a warning for Pune’s future. Whether the city restores its floodlines, protects vulnerable communities, and plans by watershed will determine how severe the next disaster becomes. The question is no longer if extreme rain will return, but how prepared the city will be when it does.