Bio-inspired Sustainable Solutions for Human Induced Environmental Disasters

Tarun Kumar Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

Number of Disasters World and Asia (1900-2016)

Total Population World and Asia (1820-2016)

Asia

Africa

Europe

North America

South America

NATURAL DISASTERS “a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or a society involving widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources” (UN).

RESILIENCE “ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions” (UNISDR)

HUMAN-INDUCED ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS “anthropological activities that induce or aggravate the effects of a natural hazard‘’

INTRODUCTION “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”

Thomas S. Monson

CONTEXT

Urban Floods, Chennai, India

Coastal city, South India

1218.6mm - Three times the monthly rainfall quantity

Death toll of 400 citizens

Flash Floods & Landslides, Kedarnath

2

1

I N C I D E N T S

Hilly pilgrimage centre, North India

Cloudbursts, Landslides induced floods

Death toll of 5000 pilgrims and residents

CITIES

LESS FLEXIBLE

LESS RESILIENT

LARGE POPULATION

2

CASE STUDIES

HILL TOWN

CONSTRUCTION ON ESZs

DISASTER PRONE

PILGRIMAGE

www.thequint.com/news/hot-news/tamil-nadu-floods-death-toll-rises-to-184-from-171

www.scroll.in/article/838307/can-uttarakhand-sustain-the-onslaught-of-commercially-packaged-religion-in-age-of-climate-change

Poor Urban Planning

Mindless illegal constructions

Climate change, rise in sea levels

Clogged Drains

Deforestation- water retention capacity

Buildings on catchment areas

Overflowing lakes, rivers

No early flood warning system

A N T H R O P O L O G I C A L C A U S E S

Blasting of mountains for approach roads

Global warming, Cloud Bursts

Debris clogged rivers

Deforestation- loose soil

Illegal construction on Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZ)

Collapse of bridge, roads

Poor early flood warning system

Urban Floods, Chennai, India Flash Floods & Landslides, Kedarnath

CASE STUDIES

http://theverb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/boat.jpg

http://www.indiagk.net/2013/06/kedarnath-temle-before-and-after-rain.html https://media.gqindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GQ-

Chennai-floods-aid.jpg

https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/11/jkjkjkklklkl.jpg

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ptpsA_8bQv0/maxresdefault.jpg

http://www.indiagk.net/2013/06/kedarnath-temle-before-and-after-rain.html

Solutions

Organism Level

Behavioural Interactions

Ecosystem Level

Bio Inspiration +

Inspired by Nature

Biology

Systems Thinking

Design

BIO-INSPIRED SOLUTIONS URBAN POLICY Problems Solutions Bio-Inspiration

Urban Floods Provision of Buffer-Green Zones around lakes and check-Dams on the rivers. GPS-based monitoring of wetlands and forests to stop illegal construction and Land Grab.

Beavers Dam- Check Dams Flamingo-Stilt Construction Capillary System: Roots of Trees-Water absorption Strip

Better Early Flood Warning Systems and de-clogging of Storm Water Drains

Bee Communication-Early Warning Ant Nests- Self-closing flood barrier

Air Pollution

Moving towards Intelligent Mass Rapid Transit Systems and Electrical Vehicles.

Ants and Termites: Streamlined Intelligent Transport Systems

Use of Solar Energy in Individual buildings which become producers of Energy.

Photosynthesis: Using building surfaces to produce energy (Dyes)

Waste Management

Sewage Water Treatment Plants at Point Sources (Apartments and Industries)

Brain-Neural Networks- Drainage Systems

Better Solid waste Management System and Converting waste to Energy

Filtration-Lungs/Kidney-Point source treatment

Bio-inspiration Model

f(x)

f(x)

f(x)

f(x)

f(x)

f(x)

f(x)

f(x)

f(x)

Model Neural network to predict the Flood

Inputs Hidden Layer Outputs

INPUT: It is the raw data like the flow river information. OUTPUT: Predicted flood

[1] H. JOSHI, Uttarakhand floods 2013: What led to Kedarnath disaster, http://www.dailyo.in/user/12162/hridayeshjoshi

[2] Down to Earth, Destinations of India, (2016). http://destinations-of-india.blogspot.in/.

[3] Firstpost, Extreme pollution leads to mounds of toxic foam overflowing from Bengaluru lake, (2015). http://www.firstpost.com/india/extreme-pollution-leads-to-mounds-of-toxic-foam-overflowing-from-bengaluru-lake-2219094.html.

[4] UNISDR, WMO, Disaster risk and resilience: Thematic think piece, UN Syst. Task Team Post-2015 UN Dev. Agenda. (2012). http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Think Pieces/3_disaster_risk_resilience.pdf.

[5] EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database-Universitie Catholique de Louvain (UCL)-CRED. D. Guha. Sapir-www.emdat.be Brussels, Belgium

[6] https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth/

[7] www.thequint.com/news/hot-news/tamil-nadu-floods-death-toll-rises-to-184-from-171

[8] www.scroll.in/article/838307/can-uttarakhand-sustain-the-onslaught-of-commercially-packaged-religion-in-age-of-climate-change

[9] http://theverb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/boat.jpg

[10] https://media.gqindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/GQ-Chennai-floods-aid.jpg

[11] https://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/11/jkjkjkklklkl.jpg

[12] http://www.indiagk.net/2013/06/kedarnath-temle-before-and-after-rain.html

[13] https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ptpsA_8bQv0/maxresdefault.jpg

[14] http://natcatservice.munichre.com/

[15] https://www.pinterest.com/explore/bee-images/

[16] http://www.woodants.org.uk/species/biology

[17]http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/04/earth_day_is_the_perfect_time_to_plant_a_tree_here_s_how.html

[18] https://www.pinterest.com.au/explore/flamingo-painting/

[19] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/305488.php

[20] http://rpi-cloudreassembly.transvercity.net/2012/11/04/neural-network-mapping-analysis-from-above/

[21] https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/researchers-use-neural-network-algorithms-for-more-accurate-brain-scans/

REFERENCES