IMD commissions Flash Flood Guidance Services in South Asia

On October 23, 2020, India Meteorological Department commissioned the Flash Flood Guidance Services in South Asia. The service is first of its kind for the South Asian region.

Highlights

The Flood Guidance Service will include warning about threats six hours in advance, warnings about risks 24 hours in advance. The warnings are to be provided by the National and State Disaster Management Authorities and also by Regional Centre to National Meteorological and Hydrological Services.

Flash floods

They are localized events. They usually occur for less than six hours between the occurrence of rainfall and peak floods. However, they have significant impacts on lives and properties of population.

Flash Flood is a rapid flooding of rivers, washes, depressions and dry lakes. It is caused by heavy rains that are associated with hurricane, thunder storm, meltwater and tropical storm. They also occur due to collapse of debris dam, natural ice or human structure.

Flash Flood Guidance System

It was approved at the fifteenth World Meteorological Congress. It was designed by a US Non-Profit organization.

Usually the flash flood guidance systems are created based on two concepts namely Flash Flood Guidance and Flash Flood Threat

Flash Flood Guidance

It is an index that indicates how much rainfall is required to overcome channel storage capacities and soil storage capacities to cause minimum flooding in a basin.

Flash Flood Threat

It is an index that provides an indication of areas where flooding occurs and where immediate action is shortly needed.

Flood Governance in India

• Embankments are constructed. This has been implemented mainly along the course of Brahmaputra river. More than 5,000 km of embankments were built along Brahmaputra in the last six decades.
• The Ganga Flood Control Commission was formed in 2006
• The GoI has been focusing on constructing dams and porcupine bamboo structures to control floods.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2020