Disaster Preparedness During Floods

Why in the News?

·       High precipitation in the upper and lower catchment area of R.Yamuna has led to devastating floods in the National capital.

·       The Central Water Commission has called the Delhi floods an ' Extreme situation'.

Reasons for Delhi floods:

a)    Geographical phenomenon - Triple factors of active monsoon, orographic lift accompanied by a western disturbance phenomenon, possibly triggered by high temperatures during the summer causing high evaporation and extreme moisture laden air.

b)    Urban settlement of both public and private has encroached all over the flood plain regions of R.Yamuna, its drainage channels and urban lakes.
For instance, near the Greater Noida area, the river inflated from just 400 m to cover an area of about 7.99 km with flood water, which is the natural flood plain region of the river.

c)     Accumulation of silt over a short time period due to heavy rains resulting in increased level of the yamuna river bed.

d)    Climate change induced heat waves during the summer along with heightened monsoon and deep orographic lift has aggravated the flood situation in the unique topography of Delhi.

Impacts of Delhi floods

a)     Loss of life and damage to property due to inundation.

b)     Likely Drinking water crisis of up to 25% due to closure of 3 water treatment plants-Wazirabad, Chandrawal, and Okhla

c)      Public health risk of waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A, and gastroenteritis, vector-borne diseases and skin infections due to stagnant water.

Way forward

a)     Build strong and higher embankments in low lying areas.

b)     Robust early warning system about heavy rainfall and flash floods to people.
AI/ML augmented meteorological observations such as Doppler weather radar (DWR) or high-resolution weather prediction model can be used.

c)      Advanced flood monitoring system with continuous monitoring of river levels.

d)     Flood risk maps to identify high risk zones, historically vulnerable spots and target actions.

e)     Climate resilient infrastructure such as drainage systems to prevent waterlogging.

f)       Robust implementation of land use planning and zoning regulations.

g)     Protection and restoration of natural ecosystem

h)    Awareness generation among people about right actions during flood, giving first-aid and getting reliable information.

Extreme rainfall events during monsoon along with climate change adversaries, both proactive measures and reactive strategies becomes essential.

A Multi-pronged disaster preparedness approach:

1)  Robust early warning system about heavy rainfall and flash floods to people.  AI/ML augmented meteorological observations such as Doppler weather radar (DWR) or high-resolution weather prediction model can be used.

2)    Advanced flood monitoring system with continuous monitoring of river levels.

3)     Flood risk maps to identify high risk zones, historically vulnerable spots and target actions.

4)     Climate resilient infrastructure such as drainage systems to prevent waterlogging.

5)     Robust implementation of land use planning and zoning regulations.

6)     Protection and restoration of natural ecosystem

7)  Awareness generation among people about right actions during flood, giving first-aid and getting reliable information.

About:

Floods and drought:                                                                  

Today, droughts and floods are a common feature and their co-existence poses a potent threat, which cannot be eradicated but has to be managed. Transfer of the surplus monsoon water to areas of water deficit is a potential possibility. This would also help create additional irrigational potential, the generation of hydropower, as well as overcoming regional imbalances.

The recurrence of drought and famines during the second half of the 19th century necessitated the development of irrigation to give protection against the failure of crops and to reduce large-scale expenditure on famine relief.

Floods in India:

Floods are recurrent phenomena in India. Due to different climatic and rainfall patterns in different regions, it has been the experience that, while some parts are suffering devastating floods, another part is suffering drought at the same time. With the increase in population and development activity, there has been a tendency to occupy the floodplains, which has resulted in damage of a more serious nature over the years. Often, because of the varying rainfall distribution, areas which are not traditionally prone to floods also experience severe inundation. Thus, floods are the single most frequent disaster faced by the country.

Flooding is caused by the inadequate capacity within the banks of the rivers to contain the high flows brought down from the upper catchments due to heavy rainfall. Flooding is accentuated by erosion and silting of the river beds, resulting in a reduction of the carrying capacity of river channels; earthquakes and landslides leading to changes in river courses and obstructions to flow; synchronization of floods in the main and tributary rivers; retardation due to tidal effects; encroachment of floodplains; and haphazard and unplanned growth of urban areas. Some parts of the country, mainly coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, experience cyclones, which are often accompanied by heavy rainfall leading to flooding.

Area prone to flood

In 1980, Rashtriya Barh Ayog (National Commission on Floods) assessed the total area liable to flooding in the country as 40 million hectares (ha), which constitutes one-eighth of the country’s total geographical area. The Working Group on Flood Control Programme set up by the Planning Commission for the Tenth Five Year Plan put this figure at 45.64 million ha. About 80 per cent of this area, i.e. 32 million ha, could be provided with a reasonable degree of protection.

Damage from floods

More significant than the loss of life and damage to property is the sense of insecurity and fear in the minds of people living in the floodplains. The after-effects of flood, such as the suffering of survivors, spread of disease, non-availability of essential commodities and medicines and loss of dwellings, make floods the most feared of the natural disasters faced by humankind.

Flood damage

Heavy flood damage was inflicted during the monsoon of 1955, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1998, 2001 and 2004. 

National water policy

The National Water Policy adopted by the National Water Resources Council in April 2002 highlights the provisions for project planning, surface- and groundwater development, irrigation and flood control.
Irrigation plays a major role in increasing the production of food grains. The policy provides following directives for irrigation management:

·   Irrigation planning either in an individual project or in a basin as a whole should take into account the irrigability of land, cost-effective irrigation options possible from all available sources of water and appropriate irrigation techniques for optimizing water- use efficiency. Irrigation intensity should be such as to extend the benefits of irrigation to as large a number of farming families as possible, keeping in view the need to maximize production;

·       There should be close integration of water- and land-use policies.

·      Water allocation in an irrigation system should be done with due regard to social equity and justice. Disparities in the availability of water between head-reach and tail-end farms and between large and small farms should be obviated by adoption of a rotational water distribution system and supply of water on a volumetric basis subject to certain ceilings and rational pricing;

·   Concerted efforts should be made to ensure that the irrigation potential created is fully utilized. For this purpose, the command area development approach should be adopted in all irrigation projects.
The following provisions exist in National Water Policy 2002 as regards flood control and moderation:

·       There should be a master plan for flood control and management for each flood prone basin;

·       An adequate flood cushion should be provided in water-storage projects, wherever feasible, to facilitate better flood management. In highly flood- prone areas, flood control should be given overriding consideration in reservoir-regulation policy, even at the cost of sacrificing some irrigation or power benefits;

·     While physical flood-protection works like embankments and dykes will continue to be necessary, increased emphasis should be laid on non-structural measures such as flood forecasting and warning, floodplain zoning and flood-proofing in order to minimize losses and reduce recurring expenditure on flood relief.

Approach to flood management

Approaches to dealing with floods may be any one or a combination of the following available options:

·         Attempts to modify the flood

·         Attempts to modify the sus-ceptibility to flood damage

·         Attempts to modify the loss burden

·         Bearing the loss.

The main thrust of the flood protection programme undertaken in India so far has been an attempt to modify the flood in the form of physical (structural) measures to prevent the floodwaters from reaching potential damage centres and modify susceptibility to flood damage through early warning systems.

Structural measures

The following structural measures are generally adopted for flood protection:

·         Embankments, flood walls, sea walls

·         Dams and reservoirs

·         Natural detention basins

·         Channel improvement

·         Drainage improvement

·         Diversion of flood waters.

Non-structural measures

·         Flood forecasting and warning

·         Floodplain zoning

·         Flood fighting

·         Flood proofing

·         Flood insurance

Disaster management in India:

India has traditionally been vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its unique geoclimatic conditions. Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena. About 60 per cent of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 45 million ha are prone to floods; about 8 per cent of the total area is prone to cyclones and 68 per cent of the area is susceptible to drought. In the decade 1990-2000, an average of about 4 344 people lost their lives and 30 million were affected by disasters every year. The loss in terms of private, community and public assets was astronomical.

Over the past couple of years, the Government of India has effected a paradigm shift in its approach to disaster management. The new approach derives from the conviction that development cannot be sustainable unless disaster mitigation is built into the development process. Another cornerstone of the approach is that mitigation has to be multi-disciplinary, spanning all sectors of development. The new policy also emanates from the belief that investments in mitigation are much more cost-effective than expenditure on relief and rehabilitation.

Disaster management occupies an important place in this country’s policy framework, as it is the poor and the underprivileged who are worst affected by calamities/disasters.

The steps being taken by the Government emanate from the approach outlined above. This has been translated into a National Disaster Framework (roadmap) covering institutional mechanisms, a disaster prevention strategy, early warning systems, disaster mitigation, preparedness and response and human resource development. The expected inputs, areas of intervention and agencies to be involved at the national, state and district levels have been identified and listed. There is now, therefore, a common strategy underpinning the action being taken by all the participating organizations/stakeholders.

Institutional and policy framework

The institutional and policy mechanism for carrying out response, relief and rehabilitation has been well-established since independence. These mechanisms have proved to be robust and effective.
At the national level, the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal ministry for all matters concerning disaster management. The Central Relief Commissioner in the Ministry of Home Affairs is the nodal officer to coordinate relief operations for natural disasters. The Central Relief Commissioner receives information relating to forecasting/warning of a natural calamity from the India Meteorological Department or the Central Water Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources on a continuous basis.

National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC)

The Cabinet Secretary, who is the highest executive officer, heads the NCMC. Secretaries of all the ministries/departments concerned, as well as organizations, are members of the Committee. The NCMC gives direction to the Crisis Management Group as deemed necessary. The Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, is responsible for ensuring that all developments are brought promptly to the notice of the NCMC. The NCMC can give directions to any ministry/department/organization for specific action needed for meeting the crisis situation.

Crisis Management Group (CMG)

The Central Relief Commissioner in the Ministry of Home Affairs is the Chairman of the CMG, comprising senior officers (called nodal officers) from various concerned Ministries. The CMG’s functions are to review every year contingency plans formulated by various ministries/departments/organizations in their respective sectors and measures required for dealing with a natural disaster, coordinate the activities of the central ministries and state governments in relation to disaster preparedness and relief and to obtain information from the nodal officers on measures relating to above. In the event of a natural disaster, the CMG meets frequently to review relief operations and extend all possible assistance required by the affected states to overcome the situation effectively. The Resident Commissioner of the affected state is also associated with such meetings.

Control Room (Emergency Operations Centre)

An Emergency Operations Centre (Control Room) exists in the nodal Ministry of Home Affairs, which functions round the clock, to assist the Central Relief Commissioner in the discharge of his duties. The activities of the Control Room include collection and transmission of information concerning natural calamity and relief, keeping close contact with governments of the affected states, interaction with other central ministries/departments/organizations in connection with relief, maintaining records containing all relevant information relating to action points and contact points in central ministries etc., and keeping up-to-date details of all concerned officers at the central and state levels.

Contingency Action Plan

A national Contingency Action Plan (CAP) for dealing with contingencies arising in the wake of natural disasters has been formulated by the Government of India and is periodically updated. It facilitates the launching of relief operations without delay. The CAP identifies the initiatives required to be taken by various central ministries/departments in the wake of natural calamities, sets down the procedure and determines the focal points in the administrative machinery.

State relief manuals

Each state government has relief manuals/codes which identify the role of each officer in the state for managing natural disasters. These are reviewed and updated periodically, based on the experience of managing the disasters and the needs of the state.

Funding mechanisms

The policy and funding mechanisms for providing relief assistance to those affected by natural calamities are clearly laid down. They are reviewed by the Finance Commission appointed by the Government of India every five years. The Finance Commission makes recommendations regarding the division of tax and non-tax revenues between the central and state governments and also regarding policy for provision of relief assistance and their share of expenditure thereon. A Calamity Relief Fund has been set up in each state as per the recommendations of the 11th Finance Commission. The size of the Calamity Relief Fund was fixed by the Finance Commission after taking into account the expenditure on relief and rehabilitation over the past 10 years.

Cyclone forecasting

Tropical cyclones are intense low-pressure systems which develop over warm sea. They are capable of causing immense damage due to strong winds, heavy rains and storm surges. The frequency of a tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal is four to five times more than in the Arabian Sea. About 35 per cent of initial disturbances in the northern Indian ocean reach tropical cyclone stage, of which 45 per cent become severe.

The India Meteorological Department is mandated to monitor and give warnings of tropical cyclones. The monitoring process has been revolutionized by the advent of remote-sensing techniques. A tropical cyclone intensity analysis and forecast scheme has been worked out, using satellite image interpretation techniques which facilitate storm surge forecasting. The meteorological satellite has made a tremendous impact on the analysis of cyclones.