Floods: Causes, Impact & Measures 

Floods in India – Overview of the Major Problem

1. 1980 and 2017, India experienced 235 floods, which led to 126,286 deaths
and affected 1.93 billion people.
2. The economic losses due to floods stood at a humongous $58.7 billion.
3. Floods in India account for over 40 percent of the deaths out of all natural
disasters.
4. In 1980, Rashtriya Barh Ayog (National Commission on Floods) assessed
that the total flood-prone area of India is around 40 million hectares which
is equivalent to 12 percent of the total area of India.
5. Government data shows that between 1953 and 2011, on an average,
floods claimed 1,653 lives every year and caused losses Rs. 3,612 crores
every year.

Some of the major floods in India in the past decade are

1. Patna (2019)
2. Kerala in 2018 and 2019
3. Chennai (2015)
4. Kashmir  (2014)
5. Uttarakhand (2013)

Floods

 A high water level that overflows the natural banks along any portion of a
stream is called a flood. 

 Excess water flows over the river banks and submerges the adjacent land
which is usually dry. 
  Floods and Droughts on one hand are cumulative hazards. Thus, floods
can be seasonal, and sometimes flash floods also occur.

Causes of Floods
the causes of floods are well established. They are relatively slow in occurrences
and often occur in well-identified regions and within expected time in a year.

Natural Causes

 Heavy rainfall and cloud bursts (>50 – 100 cm within few hours

 Heavy melting of ice and snow,
 Changes in river systems and large catchment areas,
 Sediment deposition/Silting of river beds,
 The collapse of dams,
 Transgression of sea at the occasion of tropical cyclone, and
 Tsunami in coastal areas and landslides in course of rivers

Man-made/Anthropogenic causes

Unlike other natural disasters, human beings play an important role in the genesis
as well as spread of floods.

 Deforestation –
 Unscientific use of land utilization and bad farming practices  wrong
direction to plough in can cause floods.
 Increased Urbanisation – It has reduced the ability of the land to absorb
rainfall through the introduction of hard impermeable surfaces.
 Consequences of Floods

 Floods are taking thousands of lives and loss of property every year.
 The crops get adversely affected fertile soil cover.
 It leads to changes in habitats, destruction of habitats, and loss of animals
 Disruption of the lines of rail, road communication, and essential services
 Spread of water-borne and infectious diseases like cholera, gastro-enteritis,
etc
  Positive consequences – Floods also make a few positive contributions.
Every year floods to deposit fertile silt over agricultural fields which are
good for the crops. It also recharges the groundwater table.

Flood distribution in India

 Floods have been a recurrent phenomenon in India and cause huge losses
India’s high-risk vulnerability is highlighted by the fact that 40 million
hectares out of the geographical area of which is 12%.
 State-wise study shows that about 27% of the flood damage in the country
is in Bihar, 33% in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and 15% by Punjab and
Haryana.
 The major flood areas in India are in the Ganges – Brahmaputra – Meghna
Basin which accounts for nearly 60% of the total river flow of the country.
 Distribution of flood plains –
 Brahmaputra River Region
 Ganga River Region
 North – West River Region
 Central and Deccan India
 The middle and lower courses of North Indian rivers such as Ganga,
Brahmaputra, Kosi, Damodar, Mahanadi, etc. Are prone to floods due to
very low gradient. The flat plains do not have enough gradients for the
outlet of drainage.
 Peninsular rivers are mature and have hard rock beds, so they have shallow
basins. This makes them prone to flooding.
 Parts of the Eastern coasts of India are particularly prone to cyclones during
October – November. These cyclones are accompanied by strong winds,
storm surges, tidal waves, and torrential rains.

Flood Control Management

The central and State Government have taken the following steps to reduce the
menace of floods:-

Flood Forecasting-
  It involves giving prior information regarding the occurrence of floods. It is
of immense help in taking timely action to reduce the loss of human lives,
livestock, and movable properties. The central water commission started
flood forecasting in November 1985, when the first flood forecasting
station was established near the old railway bridge of Delhi.
 At present, there are 175 flood forecasting stations on various rivers in the
country. The flood forecasting network covers the flood-prone states and
UTs where the station issues daily flood warnings throughout the flood
season from May to October.

Reduction in Run-Off-

 It is one of the very effective methods of flood control. Runoff can be

reduced by inducing and increasing infiltration of the surface water into the
ground in the catchment areas. This can be done by large scale
afforestation, especially in the upper catchment areas.

Construction of Dams-

 Dams and multi-purpose projects are being constructed across the rivers to
store the surplus water in the reservoirs. A number of such reservoirs were
constructed during the 1st Five-year plan. In the subsequent plans also,
many dams have been constructed to reduce the run-off and to store and
release water under controlled conditions.

Channel Improvements and Construction of Embankments-

 The channels of the rivers more prone to flood are improved by deepening
and widening. The water of those rivers is also diverted into canals.
 The central and state governments have constructed a number of
embankments along the rivers to reduce the menace of floods. Such
embankments have been constructed along the Brahmaputra, Krishna,
Godavari, Gandak, Kosi, and Narmada, Tapi, son, satluj, and their
tributaries.

Flood Plain Zoning –

  It is also an important step to control floods which are based on
information regarding flood plains, particularly the identification of
floodways in relation to land use.

NDMA Guidelines for Flood Management

STRUCTURAL NON – STRUCTURAL

Reservoirs, dams, other water storages Flood plain zoning

Embankments/flood walls Flood proofing

Drainage improvement Flood management plans

Desilting/ dredging of rivers Integrated watershed managem

Diversion of flood water

Afforestation/ catchment area treatment

Government Programmes for Flood management

 In addition to the steps given above, legislative measures are taken to

restrict the construction of industrial and residential units in flood-prone
areas. The construction of buildings, factories, houses in the zones adjacent
to river channels should be prohibited. The areas occasionally flooded
should be under green belts and social forestry should be encouraged in
the flood plain.
 National Flood Control Management Programme, 1954
 At the national level, the first policy statement on flood control in India was
established on 3 September 1954. This policy statement envisaged 3 types
of flood control measures, namely, Intermediate, short and long term.
 National Hydrology Project, 2016
 It is a central sector scheme with 50% of the outlay amount received from
the World Bank loan. This project gathers hydro-meteorological data which
will be stored and analyzed on a real-time basis and can be seamlessly
accessed by any user at the State/District/Village level.
Mitigation (Post – Flood Management)

 Rescue Operations
 Speedy restoration of the transport system
 Supply of safe drinking water
 Repair of power, telephone, and sewerage lines
 Supply of food, shelter, and clothing
 Survey to assess the loss and compensation
 Rehabilitation of properties
 Desilting and dewatering of inundated areas
 Contingency Plan for the agriculture sector

lood Management In India

Apart from natural factors like incessant and heavy rainfall during the monsoon,
there are man-made factors that contribute to floods in India.

India is highly vulnerable, as most of its geographical area is prone to annual

flooding. The high losses and damages due to floods show the poor adaptation
and mitigation status of India and inadequacy in disaster management and
preparedness.

Thus, there is a need for an Integrated flood management system.

Factors contributing to the increase in Floods

Natural Causes

 Climate Change: According to the International Panel for Climate Change,

the rainfall intensity, duration and frequency are going to increase in the
future.
o Also, incidence of cyclonic circulations and cloud bursts that cause flash
floods are increasing due to Climate change.
 Skewed Rainfall Pattern: 80% of the precipitation takes place in the
monsoon months from June to September. During this time, the rivers bring
heavy sediment load from the catchments.
 o These, coupled with inadequate carrying capacity of the rivers and
drainage congestion and erosion of river-banks are responsible for
causing floods.
 Trans-National Rivers: The fact that some of the rivers (like Brahmaputra,
many tributaries of Ganga) causing damage in India originate in neighboring
countries, adds another complex dimension to the problem.
o Also, sudden change in topography from high mountains to plain areas,
is also a reason for floods in northern India.
 Earthquakes: An Earthquake Disaster Risk Index (EDRI), prepared by
the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), showed that about
56% area of India is vulnerable to moderate to major earthquakes.
o As many of the river basins in India lie in earthquake-prone areas, the
course of the river is not stable and amounts to flooding.
Human Causes

 Unplanned Development: Unplanned development, encroachments in

riparian zones, failure of flood control structures, unplanned reservoir
operations, poor drainage infrastructure, deforestation, land use change and
sedimentation in river beds are exacerbating floods.
o When rainfall is heavy, the river breaches the embankments and
destroys habitations along the banks and on the sandbars.
 Urban Flooding: Flooding in the cities and the towns is a recent phenomenon
caused by increasing incidence of heavy rainfall in a short period of time.
o The reason for this is indiscriminate encroachment of waterways and
wetlands, inadequate capacity of drains and lack of maintenance of the
drainage infrastructure.
o Apart from it, poor waste management is exacerbating the problem by
blocking drains, canals and lakes, while ill-planned road projects are
cutting off flood flows
 Neglect of Pre-Disaster Planning: History of flood management shows that
focus of disaster management has largely been on post-flood recovery and
relief.
 o Many reservoirs and Hydro-electric plants do not have enough gauging
stations for measurement of flood level, which is the principal
component for flood prediction and forecast.
Way Forward

 Disaster Preparedness Plan: A comprehensive flood management plan is

needed to include Disaster preparedness.This may require strengthening of
the following:
o Flood Hotspot Mapping at local and regional scale.
o Management and regulation of riparian zones to prevent spilling and
erosion.
o River flood modelling to prepare for incidences like reservoir breach and
emergency water release from dams.
o Advanced techniques such as mapping based on satellite imagery
and Geographic Information Systems will help in development of flood
early warning systems.
 Integrated Approach: Steps need to be taken for watershed management
through an integrated approach. Often these approaches involve both hard
engineering solutions and ecologically sustainable soft solutions.
o Hard Solutions: It involves civil engineering construction such as dams,
culverts and dykes, widening and deepening of river channels and
diversion channels to store and divert water to increase the lag time of
water reaching downstream.
o Ecological Soft Solutions: The solutions such as restoration and
management of riparian zones, afforestation along the river channels
which led to retention of rainwater and reduces the river discharge.
o An integrated approach to managing floods requires a sound
understanding of the patterns that rivers such as the Ganga and its
tributaries display during the monsoon.
 Prioritising Buffers, Flexibility and Adaptability: This includes reviewing
safety criteria of dams and canals, re-building these with higher safety
factors, creating new intermediate storages, and introducing dynamic
reservoir management.
 Reducing Disaster Risk Reduction: There is a need for efficient
implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, this will
reduce the vulnerability of any disaster.
 Focusing on Urban Flood Management: Keeping in view the fact that the
problem of Urban Flooding is becoming more severe and losses are
mounting every year.
o The subject of urban flooding needs exclusive attention and the proper
implementation of NDMA guidelines on Urban Flooding 2016, is the
need of the hour.
Conclusion

As floods cause major damage to life and property every year, it is time the
central and the state governments prepare a long-term plan that goes beyond
piecemeal measures like building embankments and dredging to control floods.
Also, there is a need for an integrated basin management plan that brings all the
river-basin sharing countries as well Indian states on board.