Brazil, being a subtropical area, has a diverse climate and changing atmosphere. Similarly, the citizens of Brazil have witnessed a historic rainfall this past one month declaring it to be the heaviest rainfall in the city since it started measuring 110 years ago. It is been raining for almost a month in Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Brazilian state Minas Gerais. This historic rainfall has resulted in deadly floods and widespread destruction in the region. The cities and the towns have been washed out by landslides and thousands of citizens have been dislocated from their homes for safety reasons.
The south-eastern region of Brazil was working on better planning and zoning policies as many people of this region, like in India, live in informal settlements that are built-in unreliable places. Many of the communities residing here settle from the rural area to the urban setting for work and they usually get overseen by any government agency and are not typically zoned. According to Thomas Vicino, a professor of Public Policy, Political Science and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, “they are very susceptible to natural disasters”.
In The New York Times, it was published that the Brazilian officials blame the inadequate housing policies in part for the high death toll but Vicino states a political question in which he asks the society if it has the political will to confront the realities of a climate disaster. According to him, the cities around the world need to implement “more resilient policies and more resilient (neighbourhood) planning.” This resilient planning also includes building fixed boundaries between the development zones and natural land to protect natural water collection systems.
The south-eastern Brazil region was taking baby steps forward in implementing these new policies for better zoning but any interruption to the process like natural disasters, social unrest, and political or economic upheaval can hinder the process.
Rubena Bose