Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 DOI 10.1007/s12517-017-2895-2 ORIGINAL PAPER Flood occurrences, damages, and management challenges in India: a geographical perspective Omvir Singh 1 & Manish Kumar 1 Received: 17 January 2016 / Accepted: 9 February 2017 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2017 Abstract India is one of the most flood-prone countries in the Introduction world after Bangladesh and these are quite common through- out the country. However, their characteristics differ from re- Floods are the most frequently occurring and damaging mete- gion to region. Flooding behavior and their management at orological hazard in India. Existing literature shows that sev- national level have been investigated in this article. Floods are eral disastrous floods hit India in 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, caused mainly due to the extreme spatial and temporal varia- 1978, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1993, 1995, 2006, and 2010 tion in the quantity of rainfall and meteorological conditions (Kayastha 1983; Kale 2004; CWC 2010). Moreover, it is during monsoon season (June–September). About 80% of the one of the most flood-prone countries in the world after total annual rainfall is concentrated during the period, Bangladesh, and about 40 million ha of land, roughly one resulting in a very high discharge from rivers, causing exten- eighth of the country’s geographical area, is prone to floods. sive damage to life and property. The National Flood Control The annual average area affected by flood is 7.6 million ha Program has been launched in the country in the year 1954. with a variability ranging from 1.46 million ha in 1965 to Since then, sizeable progress has been made in structural and 17.5 million ha in 1978 (CWC 2010). In addition, estimation non-structural flood protection measures. Structural measures of flood-affected area by different agencies in India has been involve the construction of physical structures like embank- presented in Table 1. Roughly, 30 million people in the coun- ments, dams, drainage channels, and reservoirs that prevent try are affected by floods and more than 1500 lives are lost flood waters from reaching potential damage centers, whereas each year which accounts for about one fifth of the global non-structural measures like flood forecasting aim at improv- death count due to floods (Gupta et al. 2003; Singh and ing the preparedness to floods by keeping people away from Kumar 2013a). According to available official statistics, about flood waters. Institutional and legal setup to mitigate the im- 92,000 people lost their lives and economical losses amounted pacts of floods has evolved over the years. Nevertheless, sta- to approximately $200 billion between 1953 and 2009 tistics do not reveal major reduction in the flood damages. flooding (CWC 2010). However, river-friendly and less-interventionist approaches have The nature and hydrology of flooding varies according to been suggested to achieve sustainable flood management. geography and physiography in India. Floods in India are caused by rainfall that occurs in association with the move- ment of monsoon depressions and cyclonic storms during Keywords Flood problem . Frequency . Damage summer monsoon period of June to September. Therefore, management . India large floods on most of the Indian rivers are a direct result of Bbreak^ monsoon situations and cyclonic storms. Super cy- clonic storms on October 29–30, 1999, near Paradeep (Orissa * Omvir Singh coast) caused severe floods and devastation soon after their
[email protected]crossing the coast and killed about 10,000 people (Kalsi 2006). The flood-generating rainstorms are confined to 1 Department of Geography, Kurukshetra University, Ganga and its tributaries, plains of Punjab, Central India, Kurukshetra 136119, India northern half of Indian Peninsula and Brahmaputra, and its 102 Page 2 of 19 Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Table 1 Estimation of flood- affected area (million ha) in India State Geographical Flood-affected area Flood-affected area Area Area area estimated by National estimated by XI plan liable to protected (million ha) Flood Commission working group floods (%) (million ha) (million ha) (%) Andhra 27.51 1.39 3.48 5.05 2.5 Pradesh Arunachal – – 0.08 – – Pradesh Assam 7.84 3.15 3.82 40.18 16.64 Bihar – 4.26 6.88 – – Delhi 0.15 0.05 0.07 33.33 15.33 (NCT) Gujarat 17.39 1.39 2.05 24.50 9.00 Haryana 4.42 2.35 2.35 53.17 24.7 Himachal 5.57 0.23 0.23 4.13 – Pradesh Jammu and 22.22 0.08 0.51 0.36 0.05 Kashmir Karnataka 19.18 0.02 0.90 0.10 0.005 Kerala 3.89 0.87 1.47 22.37 0.28 Madhya 44.34 0.26 0.34 0.59 – Pradesh Maharashtra 30.77 0.23 0.33 0.75 0.003 Manipur 2.23 0.08 0.08 3.59 3.27 Meghalaya 2.24 0.02 0.09 0.89 3.34 Mizoram – – 0.05 – – Nagaland – – 0.01 – – Orissa 15.57 1.40 3.34 8.99 2.25 Punjab 5.04 3.70 4.05 73.41 47.7 Rajasthan 34.22 3.26 3.26 9.53 0.046 Sikkim – – 0.02 – – Tamilnadu 13.01 0.45 0.45 3.46 0.22 Tripura 1.05 0.33 0.33 31.43 0.85 Uttar 29.44 7.33 7.34 24.93 2.5 Pradesh West 8.88 2.65 3.76 29.84 11.27 Bengal Pondicherry 0.05 0.01 0.05 20.00 – Total – 33.51 45.64 – – Source: Planning Commission 2011; National Disaster Management Authority, NDMA, 2008 tributaries (Pisharoty and Asnani 1957; Nandargi 1996; 8000 houses completely, and tremendous destruction of live- Rakhecha and Pisharoty 1996; Starkel et al. 1998; Kale stock, property, and agricultural lands (IMD 1979; Dhar et al. 2002). Flash flooding is also the most common destructive 1981; Palaniappan 1997). Collapse of Khadakwasala-Panshet type of flood which occurs mostly in hilly areas and causes dams in July 1961, in Pune is another example of dams giving local streams and rivulets to rise suddenly destroying bridges, way due to heavy rush of flood waters upstream of the dam buildings, roads, crops, and human lives most frequently (Dhar et al. 1980; Dhar and Nandargi 2003). In addition, other (Dhar and Nandargi 2003). The Vamsadhara flash flood of factors include landslides leading to obstruction of flow and September 1980 is a well-known example and it caused huge change in the river course, retardation of flow due to tidal and loss of life and property in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. back water effects, poor natural drainage in the flood-prone Moreover, floods also occur due to dam or reservoir failure area, cloud bursts, snowmelt and glacial outbursts, and dam- or improper management of high water level conditions in break flow (Mohapatra and Singh 2003). The changes in river reservoirs and consequent sudden release of the water espe- courses and erosion of riverbanks are one of the major prob- cially during the periods of high-intensity rainfall (Dhar et al. lems associated with floods (Bhan 2001). 1975; Ramaswamy 1985; Nandargi and Dhar 2003). Floods are caused mainly due to the extreme spatial and Exceptionally high floods have also occurred due to the temporal variation in the rainfall pattern over the country, and breaching of dams, e.g., the Machhu dam in Morvi town of about 80% of the total annual rainfall is concentrated over the Rajkot district in Gujarat, which breached on August 11, short period of 3 or 4 months (June–September). The heaviest 1979, washing away about 1500 people, damaging about rains of the order of 200–400 cm or even more occur over Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Page 3 of 19 102 north-east India and along the Western Ghats situated along highest flood of 14.21 m at Dholpur discharge site on August the west coast of the peninsular India. 25, 1982 (Nandargi and Dhar 1998; Dhar and Nandargi 2003). Attri and Tyagi (2010) divided India into four distinct sea- The major tributaries of the Ganga include Yamuna, Sone, sons, namely winter (January and February), hot weather sea- Ghaghra, Rapti, Gandak, Bagmati, Kosi, and the son (March, April, and May), rainy season (June, July, Mahananda. The basin covers the states of Uttarakhand, August, and September), and cool and dry period (October, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, south and central parts of November, and December). Hydrologically, country can be West Bengal, parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, divided into four major units, viz., Ganga River basin, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. The flooding problem is Brahmaputra River basin, North-west River basins, and mainly confined to the middle and lower parts of the Ganga Central and Peninsular River systems. basin. Flood in the basin are caused by the excessive precip- In the background of above preamble, facts, and issues, the itation, inadequate waterways at confluences, human en- main objective of this paper is, therefore, (i) to visualize the croachments and lack of adequate drainage, failure of flood flood problem on regional basis in the country, (ii) to examine control embankments, and deforestation (Choudhary 1989; the progress of various past and ongoing flood management Rangachari 1993; Dhar and Nandargi 1998; Mirza et al. measures undertaken in the country since independence with 2001). The normal annual rainfall in different parts of the an emphasis to performance and progress of various measures, basin varies from about 60 cm in southern and western parts and (iii) to point out the future needs for efficient and success- to 190 cm in northern and eastern parts of which 70 to 90% ful schemes of flood management. To meet these objectives, occurs during the south-west monsoon months of June to secondary data has been collected from various research pa- September. Therefore, most of the flood damage is caused pers published in national and international journal of repute, by the northern tributaries of the Ganga such as Ghaghra, books, website sources, documents, and reports of Ministry of Gandak, Bagmati, and Kosi by spilling over their banks and Water Resources (Government of India) and its major constit- changing their courses frequently. River Kosi has experienced uent members such as Water and Power Consultancy Services dramatic shifts of over 100 km in the last two centuries (Chitle and Flood Directorate of Central Water Commission, New 1984; Wells and Dorr 1987). Countless examples of channel Delhi. Simple numerical calculations have been applied for migration and changes in the sinuosity of the Ganga River and quantitate analysis and subsequently, information is summa- its tributaries have been documented by many investigators. rized in the form of simple tables and graphs. (Chitale 1977; Chitale 1978; Asthana and Bahrgava 1981; Chitale 1984; Verma et al. 1989; Dubey 1990; Singh 1996). Tributaries of the Ganga from the south, except Punpun, have Flood problems in India not been that effective in causing floods as the tributaries from the north. Rivers Sone and Ken have been experiencing less Being a vast country, the flood problem mainly depends on the number of floods compared to the Punpun. However, the river system, topography of the place, and flow phenomenon. westernmost tributary of the Ganga, viz., the Yamuna, has Flooding problem in different river basins of India (Fig. 1) has been experiencing occasional floods (Dhar and Nandargi been presented in the following subsections. 2003). The flooding and erosion problems are serious in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. Moreover, Ganga River basin flooding also takes place in the marginal lands of Haryana along the river Yamuna. In recent years, the states of Rajasthan and The Ganga River originates from the Gangotri Glacier, which Madhya Pradesh have also experienced some incidents of heavy is located at an elevation of 7010 m above mean sea level floods. The problem of flooding and drainage congestion in these (amsl) in the Garhwal Himalayas. The total watershed area states is getting accentuated due to large-scale encroachment of of the Ganga is about 861,404 km2 with its total length of flood plains for habitation and various development activities. about 2525 km from its source to its outfall into the Bay of Overall, flooded area in the basin has demonstrated an increasing Bengal. The average annual discharge of the Ganga River at trend (Mirza et al. 2001). Farakka, India, and Harding Bridge, Bangladesh, is about 410 × 103 and 352 × 103 million m3, respectively (Mirza Brahmaputra River basin 1997). The annual normal runoff is about 25 times more than what is received from the southern tributaries. Monsoon flows Brahmaputra River rises in south Tibet from the glaciers of fluctuate from 57,000 to 80,000 m3/s (Mohapatra and Singh Mount Kailash at an elevation of about 5150 m amsl. It has an 2003). The highest annual peak discharge of 80,230 m3/s has annual average discharge of about 510,000 million m3 and a been recorded at Harding Bridge in 1998 and it has witnessed total length of about 2900 km, draining an area of about an increasing trend (Mirza et al. 2001). In addition, among the 580,000 km2 in Tibet, India and Bangladesh (Rao 1975). Ganga’s major tributaries, the Chambal River has recorded the The average annual discharge in the river is nearly twice that 102 Page 4 of 19 Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Fig. 1 Major river basins of India (source: Dhar and Nandargi 2003; Khullar 2014) of the Ganges. The highest annual peak discharge of destruction of wetlands, and drainage congestion on account 98,600 m3/s has been recorded during the year 1988 at of poorly managed embankment network (Bhattachaiyya and Pandu and it has not exhibited any discernible changes Bora 1997; Dhar and Nandargi 2000). However, flooded area (Mirza et al. 2001). Moreover, among the Brahmaputra tribu- has not demonstrated any increasing or decreasing in the basin taries, the Teesta River has recorded the highest flood of (Mirza et al. 2001). It is regarded as one of the world’s largest 18.10 m at Anderson Bridge discharge site on October 4, braided river systems in terms of discharge, sediments trans- 1968 (Dhar and Nandargi 2000, 2003, 2004). Floods on the port, and channel process (Goswami 1985; JMBA 1989). Brahmaputra River have been recurring features from early During its long course, it is joined by important tributaries time, but in recent years, floods of the river have become more from the Himalayan ranges of Arunachal Pradesh and severe, due to a variety of man-made causes such as lack of Bhutan in the north, viz., Subansiri, Kemang, Dhansiri, and proper storage sites, shifting cultivation, deforestation Manas, and from the southern side, it is joined by Dihing, resulting erosion and subsequently sediment deposition on Disang, Dikhu, and Kopili. The basin covers the states of river beds, road construction creating human-induced land- Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, slides, large-scale human occupation of the flood plains, Tripura, Nagaland, Sikkim, and the northern parts of West Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Page 5 of 19 102 Bengal. The discharge of the river Brahmaputra in upstream Singh 2003). In addition, cloud bursts have often been areas is mostly contributed by the snowmelt, whereas in found to cause severe floods over small Himalayan ba- downstream areas, rainfall is quite heavy and this results into sins but these floods last only for a short duration, say substantial amount of flooding in the river (Dhar and a couple of hours (Dhar and Nandargi 2002, 2003; Changrani 1966). The basin receives very high rainfall rang- Chandel and Brar 2010). ing from 110 cm in the south-eastern side to 635 cm in north- western and south-western parts, which occurs mostly during the months of May through September (Bhattachaiyya and Peninsular River basins Bora 1997; Dhar and Nandargi 2000). The problem is further aggravated due to frequent occurrence of earthquakes which Floods also occur during the monsoon months of each year in often causes landslides in the hills, and these landslides seri- Peninsular river basins which comprise the important rivers of ously disturb the natural flow of rivers in the basin (Mirza central and Deccan India, namely the Narmada, Tapi, et al. 2001). The 1897 and 1950 earthquakes in Assam, for Mahanadi, Godawari, Krishna, and Cauvery. However, it is instance, raised the river bed by several meters and changed observed that compared to north and north-eastern rivers of the river courses and profiles which subsequently caused ex- the Indian subcontinent, flood magnitudes and frequencies are tensive flooding in the basin. Also, it produced numerous generally speaking far less in the peninsular rivers. Possibly, waterfalls and lakes in the course of Chidrang River this is due to less number of cyclonic disturbances that visit (Oldham 1899; Coleman 1969; Wadia 1975; Chapman this region during each monsoon period compared to the 1995; Kale 1998; Goswami 1998; Goswami et al. 1999; northern Indian region. Also, most of the river basins have Mukhopadhyay 2006). In addition, flood inundation due to their origin on the lee side of the Western Ghats, which expe- spilling of banks and drainage congestion due to natural as riences less rainfall activity on account of their location in the well as man-made structures is a major problem. The erosion rain-shadow zone of the Western Ghats, and hence, rainfall along the banks of the Brahmaputra River is a serious problem activity is not that severe over this region, unless the region and major cause of concern among the water resources engi- comes under the influences of cyclonic disturbances (Kale neers (Sarma and Basumallick 1984). Erosion in Majuli et al. 1994; Dhar and Nandargi 2001, 2003). These basins Island, the largest river island in the world, is the most appro- cover all the southern states, namely Andhra Pradesh, priate example to state the severity of the problem. The Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Orissa, Brahmaputra Board has estimated that in the Majuli Island, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and parts of Madhya Pradesh. These the annual loss of land due to erosion could be about 3.9 km2 rivers have mostly well-defined and stable courses which and an economic loss of about Rs. 31.5 million per annum can carry adequate capacities of floodwater within their natu- (IWRS 2001; Mohapatra and Singh 2003). ral banks except in lower reaches and the delta areas, where the average bed slope is very flat. The delta areas of the North-west River basins Mahanadi, Godawari, and Krishna rivers on the east coast periodically face flood and drainage problems, in the wake The main rivers in north-west India are the Indus and its trib- of cyclonic storms. Tapi and the Narmada are flashy and oc- utaries such as Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab, Jhelum, and casionally in high floods with velocities exceeding 6–7 m/s, Ghaggar, all flowing from Indian Himalayas. Compared to affecting areas in the lower reaches of Gujarat. Narmada River Ganga and Brahmaputra basins, the flood problem in north- has recorded the highest flood of 17.87 m at Garudeshwar west river basins is relatively small. However, these rivers are (Gujarat) on September 6, 1970, followed by Tapi at fed by glaciers and sometimes glaciers hold large quantity of Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh (11.08 m) on August 6, 1968 bounded water and when it gets released suddenly, it causes (Kale et al. 1993; Kale and Hire 1997). Flood problems in severe flooding in the downstream areas (Wohl and Cenderelli Andhra Pradesh are confined to spilling by the smaller rivers 1998). In 1929, the outburst of the Chong Khundam glaciers and the submergence of marginal areas. In Orissa, damage due in Karakoram Himalayas caused a flood peak of over to floods is caused by Mahanadi, Baitarni, and Brahmani 22,000 m 3 /s at Attock in Chenab basin (Kale 1998; which have a common delta and results in a very high water Mohapatra and Singh 2003). In addition, these rivers carry level, which cause severe flooding in the region. Also, the substantial discharges during the monsoon season and also lower reaches of the Subarnrekha are affected by floods due large volumes of sediment, thereby causing rise in their beds to drainage congestion. In addition, the smaller rivers of progressively and inundating larger areas. These basins cover Kerala produce flash floods and often cause considerable the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, parts of Himachal damage. Also, there is a problem of mud flows from the hills, Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. The major problem in these which results in severe losses (Kale 1997, 2003; Mohapatra states is that of inadequate surface drainage which causes in- and Singh 2003). The discharge characteristics of peninsular undation and water logging over vast areas (Mohapatra and river basins have been demonstrated in Table 2, and most of 102 Page 6 of 19 Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Table 2 Discharge characteristics of Central and Name of the Maximum Minimum Mean SD Skewness Kurtosis Deccan Indian rivers river discharge (m3/s) discharge (m3/s) discharge (m3/s) Baitarani 9203 1274 3687 1985 1.2884 4.3091 Mahanadi 44,827 11,157 29,269 8731 −0.3921 2.7596 Narmada 69,400 11,892 25,399 12,781 1.2569 4.6137 Tapi 42,500 3270 9698 5883 1.4004 4.9856 Godavari 79,990 11,490 29,207 12,378 1.9259 7.4561 Krishna 39,000 7187 14,775 4516 2.0619 10.0566 Pennar 13,394 170 3623 3281 1.6790 5.4371 Kaveri 13,000 – 2641 1142 1.4730 – Source: Kale 1998; Rakhecha 2002 these rivers show a high average discharge, a fairly large var- It is remarkable to find that the highest floods of 9340 m3 s−1 iability, and a pronounced positive skewness. for a 735-km2 area and 16,307 m3 s−1 for a 1930-km2 area occurred in the arid region of the state of Gujarat. The most of the extreme floods have occurred in the northern and the cen- Flood magnitudes and severity in India tral river basins; the area is most frequently impacted by the monsoon depressions from the Bay of Bengal. Interestingly, Floods of various magnitudes have been occurring in one or the peak flood discharges of the Indian rivers are remarkably other parts of the country during the summer monsoon season. comparable with the highest flood discharges recorded in the The highest observed peak flood discharges at different gauge world with respect to drainage basin area (Rakhecha 2002). and discharge sites on major Indian rivers have been exhibited The frequency of floods is the highest during the months of in Fig. 2. These peak flood discharges range from about monsoon (June to September) in India. The occurrence of 1170 m3/s for a 133-km2 area basin to about 98,600 m3/s for severe and devastating floods at different gauging and dis- a 580,000-km 2 area basin. The highest ever flood of charge sites on Indian rivers from 1951 to 2003 has been 98,600 m3/s has been recorded on the mighty Brahmaputra demonstrated in Fig. 3. A flood is said to be severe and dev- River in 1988 followed by Ganga River in 1998 (80,230 m3/ astating when flood crosses the danger level at a gauging and s). According to Kale (1999), the 1968 flood on the Tapi River discharge site by 5 and 10 m, respectively (Dhar and Nandargi at Ukai is the highest since 1849; the 1970 flood on the 1993, 1994, 2003). As expected, majority of the severe and Narmada River is the highest for the last 107 years and the devastating floods occurred in the month of September (13) 1982 floods on the Mahanadi River is the highest since 1834. followed by August (9). It is primarily attributed to good Fig. 2 Highest recorded flood 120 discharge on the major rivers in 1988 India (source: Rakhecha 2002; 100 Sept. 1959 Mirza et al. 2001) 1998 Sept. 1970 Discharge ('000 m3 s-1) 80 Aug. 1982 July 1971 Aug. 1968 60 July 1903 Aug. 1969 Jul. 1971 Sept. 1988 Aug. 1976 Aug. 1924 40 Aug. 1935 Sept. 1947 Aug. 1979 - Aug. 1924 Sept. 1977 Aug. 1973 Aug. 1974 Aug. 1958 Aug. 1973 July 1971 Aug. 1979 Jun. 1977 Sept. 1983 20 July 1968 - - - - 0 Yamuna Tons Tapi Ramiala Brahmani Sabarmati Krishna Moj Kharm Machhu Brahmini Machhu Damanganga Brhmaputra Gish Kosi Ravi Mahanadi Sone Mahanadi Mahi Ganga Mahi Chambal Ganga Damodar Banas Godawari Betwa Narmada Kadam Indrawati Streams Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Page 7 of 19 102 25 Brhmaputra basin Ganga basin Central and Deccan basin North-Western basin 04.10.1968 06.09.1970 20 25.08.1982 08.09.1973 17.09.1961 Flood height (m) 08.09.1973 15 13.07.1984 Oct. 1968 17.09.1961 16.08.1961 16.08.1960 14.09.1992 1968 12.10.1973 13.08.2002 07.09.2001 25.08.1990 27.08.1982 13.10.1973 16.09.1959 25.08.1954 19.09.1976 05.10.1965 30.07.1986 Sept. 1996 1968 10 01.09.1973 12.09.1979 1973 07.09.1970 1954 30.08.1973 30.07.1971 1973 1971 5 0 Gauge/Discharge sites Fig. 3 Severe and devastating floods recorded in Indian rivers from 1951 to 2003 (source: Nandargi and Dhar 2008) monsoon shower in the month of September and subsequent Narmada River recorded the maximum number of worst release of already stored water from the reservoirs. It is re- floods on nine occasions, whereas these have been observed vealed from the analysis that maximum worst floods (>5– thrice each on the Yamuna, Subarnarekha, and the Tapi River 10 m) occurred in central and Deccan India river basins (21) gauging sites. The highest incidence of severe and devastating followed by Ganga (7) and Brahmaputra basins (6) (Fig. 3). floods in the two west flowing rivers of the Narmada and Tapi The occurrence of severe and devastating floods in central and is due to the track of monsoon disturbances, originating from Deccan India river basins can be attributed to succession of the Bay of Bengal, mostly run parallel to each other. As a cyclonic disturbances moving on after another within a short result of this, the flood wave from the upper reaches and heavy interval of time (Sharma et al. 1982; Dhar and Nandargi 1993, rainfall in the middle or lower reaches of these two rivers 1994, 2003). Among the central and Deccan Rivers, the almost travel together resulting in severe and devastating Fig. 4 Basin-wise temporal June July August September October occurrence of the highest floods at 60 different gauge and discharge Number of highest floods at different G/D sites sites in India during 1951–2003 (Source: Compiled by authors) 50 40 30 20 10 0 Brahmaputra basin Ganga basin Central and Deccan basin North-Western basin River basins 102 Page 8 of 19 Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Fig. 5 State-wise temporal 30 June July August September October Number of highest floods at different G/D sites occurrence of the highest floods at different gauge and discharge 25 sites in India during 1951–2003 (Source: Compiled by authors) 20 15 10 5 0 States floods in their lower reaches. It is, however, mentioned here, discharge sites in India during the year 1961 and 1973 follow- that the Teesta flood of October 4, 1968, at Anderson Bridge ed by 14 and 12 gauge and discharge sites during 1960 and in West Bengal is still considered to be the highest recorded 1998, respectively. Basin-wise occurrence of the highest flood on Indian rivers which stood at 18.10 m above the dan- floods above danger level has been found to be more domi- ger level at this site followed by the Narmada flood of nant in the Ganga basin (118) followed by central and Deccan September 6, 1970, at Garudeshwar in Gujarat which has been river basins (79) and Brahmaputra basin (49) gauge and dis- 17.87 m above the danger level. These unprecedented or dev- charge sites (Fig. 4). It has been observed from the analysis astating floods have been caused by the severe rainstorms of that floods are more pronounced during the month of August. October 3–5, 1968, and September 5–7, 1970, respectively. It is also seen from Fig. 5 that the frequency of maximum In this study, the flood level of 260 gauge and discharge number of gauge and discharge sites with the highest recorded sites established by different flood monitoring agencies has floods above danger level has been observed in Uttar Pradesh been studied for the period 1951–2003. The floods above (50) followed by Bihar (44), Assam (38), Orissa (26), West danger level have been recorded at 18 different gauge and Bengal (21), Maharasthra, and Madhya Pradesh (17) each. Fig. 6 Decadal occurrence of the June July August September October 35 highest floods at different gauge and discharge sites in India during Number of highest floods at differenr G/D sites 1951–2003 (Source: Compiled by 30 authors) 25 20 15 10 5 0 1951-1960 1961-1970 1971-1980 1981-1990 1991-2003 Decades Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Page 9 of 19 102 Table 3 Flood-affected areas and flood damages in India during Items Unit Flood damage Minimum Maximum 1953–2010 averages damage damage Area affected Million ha 7.25 0.5 (2006) 17.50 (1978) Population affected Million 32.36 3.61 (1965) 70.45 (1978) Human live lost Numbers 1620 37 (1953) 11,316 (1977) Cattle lost Numbers 91,000 5000 618,000 (1979) (1963/1964) Cropped area affected Million ha 3.68 0.45 (1957) 15.18 (2005) Value of damage to crops Rs. billion 70 0.5 (1965) 424 (2000) House damaged Thousands 1213 113 (1965) 3508 (1978) Value of damage to houses Rs. billion 28 0.02 (1965) 13,078 (1995) Value of damage to public Rs. billion 81.6 0.10 (1962) 560 (2001) utilities Value of total loss Rs. billion 182 0.7 (1965) 886 (2000) Source: Water Related Statistics, Central Water Commission 2010; Planning Commission, Govt. of India 2011. Figures in the parentheses indicate the year Decadal, the highest floods at different gauge and discharge Flood management in India sites have been observed to be maximum during 1971–1980 (70) followed by 1961–1970 (64) in India (Fig. 6). In addition, Due to limited resources and institutional arrangements, no floods have been more prominent in the month of August comprehensive flood management program has been initiated during 1951–1960, 1961–1970, and 1981–1990, whereas it at the national level in India during the pre-independence pe- is more pronounced in the month of September during riod barring the British Government-appointed committee to 1971–1980 and 1991–2003. look in to the cause and nature of 1927 floods in Orissa. However, after the disastrous floods of 1954, a number of committees and expert groups had studied the many aspects Flood damages in India of the problem and sizeable progress has been made in the flood protection measures. The flood management arrange- Heavy damages due to floods have occurred in the country ments undertaken since independence in the country can be since independence (Table 3). These floods have caused dam- discussed under the following aspects. ages to life and property, industry, agriculture, public utilities, etc. almost every year but the enormity varied from year to Policy measures year depending upon the frequency, magnitude, and intensity of floods and the extent of flood-affected areas. Almost all the Several policy documents have been prepared in the country damages such as flood-affected people, loss of human lives, with the underlying objective to minimize the vulnerability of damage to houses, damage to crops, damage to livestock, unprecedented floods and consequent loss of lives, livelihood damage to public utilities, and even total damages have exhib- systems, and properties and damage to infrastructure and pub- ited an increasing trend since independence (Singh and Kumar lic utilities. These policy documents have given valuable rec- 2013b, Kumar 2015) (Fig. 7b–j). Interestingly, flood-affected ommendations on different aspects of flood management, area in India exhibited a discernible decreasing trend with time such as (i) flood damage assessment be made on a realistic and about 0.015 million ha area per year decreased in the and scientific basis, (ii) performance evaluation of flood man- country (Fig. 7a). This is a significant finding because the agement schemes and works (embankments, storage dams, results do not support the widespread belief that the flood- detention basins, etc.) be carried out, (iii) requisite funds be prone area in the country is progressively increasing. To sum made available for completion of continuing schemes and up, floods have occurred in the past and will continue to occur maintenance of existing works, (iv) basin-wise master plan in future as well. It is neither possible to totally stop floods nor for flood management in each flood-prone basin be prepared, to completely eliminate the flood damages. However, it is (v) future multi-purpose projects should simultaneously take possible to minimize the severity of the impact and damage into account flood mitigation measures, (vi) international di- potential by river-friendly and multi-pronged measures that mensions of the flood problem to be taken in reckoning, and are based on the scientific understanding. Therefore, the next (vi) emphasis be laid on research, education, and training on sections of the paper highlight the flood management strate- flood management. However, the implementation of the rec- gies undertaken to control the floods in India. ommendations of various committees/working groups/task 102 Page 10 of 19 Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Fig. 7 Trends of flood damages in India during 1953–2009. a Area houses. h Value of damaged houses. i Value of damaged public utilities. affected. b Population affected. c Human live lost. d Cattle lost. e Area j Value of total loss (Source: Water Related Statistics, Central Water of crops damaged. f Value of damaged crops. g number of damaged Commission, 2010) forces has been rather slow and action on a majority of them adopted in different states (Munshi 1998). A number of flood has not been taken or at best taken partially due to various protection works have already been completed and some are administrative, social, financial, and political reasons. in the implementation phase. The states receive financial sup- Apart from policy measures, various programs of flood port from the union government to address the flooding prob- management have been also implemented from time to time lem. The planning and execution of the flood protection works in the country by various ministries and departments. These are the responsibilities of the states and union territories, while programs include Drought Prone Area Programme, Desert decision-making and control of funds lie with the union gov- Development Programme, Technology Mission on Drinking ernment. The state governments undertake flood management Water by the Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment, measures depending on availability of funds and priority. So National Watershed Development Programme for Rain fed far, through Planning Commission of the country, an estimat- Areas, Soil Conservation in the Catchments of River Valley ed expenditure incurred on flood management during various Projects and Catchments of Flood Prone Rivers by the annual and 5-year plans have been provided in Table 4. The Ministry of Agriculture, and Flood Control Scheme by the planning and approval criteria are the same throughout the Ministry of Water Resources. country, but there are different practices locally in design, construction, and maintenance depending on the conditions. Economic measures In addition, the union government gives special assistance to the border and north-eastern states for taking up some special India made indomitable efforts to tame the rivers and control priority works. Financial resources, employed in rescue, relief, the floods especially since the inception of 5-year plans. and rehabilitation process, are used in addition to the During various plan periods, flood management has been above mentioned expenditures. Financial resources are made practiced according to an integrated approach at the national available from the CRF (Calamity Relief Fund) and the NFCR level. Different methods of flood protection, both long-term (National Fund for Calamity Relief). The CRF exists for each and short term to solve local flood problems, have been state with the allocated amount contributed by the union and Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Page 11 of 19 102 Table 4 Plan wise expenditure (billion Rs.) and area protected Periods States and UTs Centre Total Area protected (Mha) under flood management (Mha) in India First plan (1951–1956) 27.9 (4.3) – 27.9 (4.3) 1.0 Second plan (1956–1961) 89.3 (13.7) – 89.3 (13.7) 3.2 Third plan (1961–1966) 46.9 (7.2) – 46.9 (7.2) 5.4 Annual plan (1966–1969) 46.1 (7.1) – 46.1 (7.1) 5.8 Fourth plan (1969–1974) 131.8 (20.3) 3.9 (0.6) 135.7 (20.9) 8.0 Fifth plan (1974–1978) 134.7 (20.7) 31.2 (4.8) 165.9 (25.5) 10.0 Annual plan (1978–1980) 56.3 (8.7) 7.7 (1.2) 63.9 (9.8) 11.2 Sixth plan (1980–1985) 188.1 (28.9) 51.1 (7.8) 239.2 (36.7) 13.0 Seventh plan (1985–1990) 133.7 (20.6) 27.5 (4.2) 161.2 (24.8) 13.8 Annual plan (1990–1992) 50.1 (7.7) 8.5 (1.3) 58.6 (9.0) 14.2 Eighth plan (1992–1997) 148.9 (22.9) 20.5 (3.2) 169.5 (26.1) 15.3 Ninth plan (1997–2002) 177.4 (27.3) 31.3 (4.8) 208.7 (32.1) N.A. Tenth plan (2002–2007) 204.6 (31.1) 35.3 (5.4) 239.9 (36.9) 18.2 Source: Water Related Statistics, Central Water Commission 2010. Figures in the parentheses indicate the expen- diture in billion $ N.A. not applicable state governments in the ratio 3:1 as per the recommendations Embankments have been constructed wherever over-bank of the Tenth Finance Commission. The NFCR has been cre- flooding and land erosion are the major problems. About ated to deal with calamities of rare severity and is managed by 34,000 km of embankments has been constructed along major a National Calamity Relief Committee (NCRC) under the rivers and their tributaries till the end of tenth 5-year plan. Ministry of Agriculture (Gupta et al. 2003). However, the Major embankment projects taken up and completed after inadequacy of flood management expenditure comes into fo- independence are on the following rivers: Kosi and Gandak cus when the amount is compared with the expenditure on (Bihar), Krishna and Godawari (Andhra Pradesh), Mahanadi relief and rescue operations. Expenditure on flood manage- (Orissa), Tapi (Gujarat), Lower Damodar (West Bengal), and ment vis-à-vis expenditure on actual relief operations has been Brahmaputra (Assam). These embankments have played im- compared in Table 5. portant role in providing reasonable protection to flood- affected areas. Barring occasional breaches in embankments, the works have given reasonable protection to an area of about Structural measures 15 million ha (Mohapatra and Singh 2003; Kumar et al. 2005). Embankments remain the most common and economical form At the time of independence, only 3 million ha of flood-prone of protection to provide immediate relief from inundation area has been protected and the total length of constructed (Gupta et al. 2003). However, the maintenance of embankments has been about 6000 km. However, since inde- pendence numerous efforts have been made to minimize the impact of floods and considerable experience has been gained Table 5 Expenditure on flood protection vs flood relief (Rs. billion) in planning, implementation and performance of flood warn- ing, protection and control measures (Gupta et al. 2003). Year Expenditure on Expenditure flood control on flood relief Traditionally, flood management has relied heavily on struc- tural measures for flood containment. Various structural mea- 1990–91 1.97 6.46 sures have been employed on a large scale in the country, and 1991–92 2.64 5.91 these mainly composed of watershed management, flood pro- 1992–93 3.30 8.93 tection embankments, flood walls, check dams, reservoirs, 1993–94 3.66 5.64 detention basins, channel improvement, drainage improve- 1994–95 3.08 N.A. ment, and diversion of flood waters (Ghosh 1997). Details 1995–96 3.12 7.29 of various flood management physical works at provincial 1996–97 3.07 N.A. and national levels have been provided in Table 6. Confinement of the flood waters to the stream channel has Source: Gupta et al. 2003 mainly been executed with the help of embankments. N.A. not applicable 102 Page 12 of 19 Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Table 6 State-wise progress of physical works under flood management till the end of tenth plan Name of the Area benefited up to Length of Length of drainage No. of villages No. of towns No. of dams No. of dams under state/UT March 2007 (Mha) embankments channels (km) protected protected completed construction (km) Andhra 1.311 2230.0 13,569.0 23 72 283 51 Pradesh Arunachal 0.055 6.4 4.5 17 0 1 0 Pradesh Assam 1.642 4464.9 850.7 0 694 2 2 Bihar 2.949 3430.0 365.0 0 47 24 4 Chattisgarh – – – – – 243 16 Delhi 0.078 83.0 453.0 0 0 0 0 Goa 0.003 23.2 32.8 0 2 5 0 Gujarat 0.483 104.1 271.0 30 805 598 68 Haryana 2.000 1144.0 4385.0 98 448 0 0 Himachal 0.012 58.0 11.0 0 0 13 6 Pradesh Jammu and 0.217 230.0 14.0 5 12 10 3 Kashmir Jharkhand 0.001 14.0 0.0 5 2 49 28 Karnataka 0.005 73.5 10.0 0 30 229 7 Kerala 0.346 205.7 31.1 6 4 53 1 Madhya 0.004 26.0 0.0 0 37 899 7 Pradesh Maharashtra 0.001 44.5 110.0 0 0 1693 152 Manipur 0.132 577.0 166.0 1 38 2 3 Meghalaya 0.001 112.0 0.0 2 8 5 2 Nagaland 0.632 10.5 0.0 0 8 0 0 Orissa 0.630 6541.0 131.0 14 29 157 0 Punjab 3.190 1370.0 6622.0 0 3 14 1 Rajasthan 0.082 145.0 197.0 0 25 180 23 Sikkim 0.017 101.8 64.9 0 18 2 0 Tamil Nadu 0.122 87.0 19.0 4 46 107 1 Tripura 0.033 141.7 95.2 0 11 1 0 Uttar Pradesh 1.703 2097.0 3995.0 4511 65 115 16 Uttarakhand 0.002 9.0 0.0 0 6 13 6 West Bengal 2.568 10,539.0 7392.8 0 48 28 0 Pondicherry 0.004 61.0 20.0 0 0 – – Total 18.22 33,928.6 38,809.9 4716 2458 4728 397 Source: Water Related Statistics, Central Water Commission 2010; Planning Commission, Govt. of India 2011 embankments has been very poor due to paucity of funds in 1959) pre-construction period, 27 years witnessed flood in the the country. Lack of adequate maintenance can lead to the delta that is once in 3 years. In comparison to this, during post- disruption of the structures in periods of heavy rains, causing construction period (1959–2006), flood occurred only in large-scale devastation in settlements in the plains. It is thus 7 years. Flood frequency has been significantly reduced to necessary to ensure proper maintenance of embankments in- about once in 7 years (Sreekesh 2009). Apart from moderating volving the beneficiaries. floods, reservoirs are generally multi-purpose projects, serv- A large number of dams and reservoirs have been con- ing other uses such as irrigation and power generation, meet- structed or under construction in India to control the floods ing industrial and domestic waster requirements. during the post-independence era (Table 6). These reservoirs Channel and drainage improvement have been done have helped greatly in reducing the intensity of flooding by deepening, widening, and removing sharp bends to downstream of the flood plains. Several dams and reservoirs control the floods. A total of 39,000 km drainage chan- such as Bhakra-Nangal, Hirakund, Nagarjun Sagar, Damodar nels have been majorly improved in the states of Jammu Valley Corporation, Ukai-Kakrapar, and Rihand are the shin- and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, and Uttar ing examples of flood control. Though the storage capacities Pradesh. In addition, a total of about 2500 towns and of these dams are decreasing due to sedimentation, however, 4700 villages are currently protected against floods in they still play an important role in flood management. The the country (Table 6). Moreover, other economical and construction of Hirakund dam considerably reduced the fre- efficient measures also have been implemented based on quency of floods in the Mahanadi Delta. In the 90-year (1868– their suitability for local conditions. Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Page 13 of 19 102 Non-structural measures countries like Nepal, Bhutan, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan during monsoon months; how- The structural measures can only partly contain damages, ever, more active participation in the subject is required. whereas non-structural measures can keep the people away from flood waters, aim at preparedness, and provide a more Flood proofing and fighting effective way of preventing losses due to floods (Basu 1993; Yevjevich 1994; Seth 1998). In India, considerable thrust Responsibility for relief and rehabilitation in India is shared at has been put on non-structural flood management mea- union and state government levels. The role of the union gov- sures since independence and their details have been ernment in the event of a natural calamity is at policy and presented in the following subsections. administrative level while the state governments deal with the actual groundwork. Advanced plans for disaster mitigation Flood forecasting, monitoring, and warning involve coordination among union, state and local authorities. Flood-fighting measures are undertaken immediately after a Of all the non-structural flood management measures, flood, with the objective of minimizing losses and human flood forecasting and warning are attaining increased miseries. It normally involves plugging of breaches; evacua- attention in India. Flood forecasting involves estimation of tion of stranded people; first aid; air dropping of food packets; river water level and discharge at future times. An advanced supply of fodder and other essential commodities; restoration system of forecasting, monitoring, and issuing early warnings of road/rail links; pumping of water from inundated areas and play a vital role in determining whether a flood will assume restoration of public utilities, such as roads, bridges, electric disastrous proportion or not. With timely reliable information supply, sewerage and water supply schemes, and drains; and of disastrous floods, loss of life and property can be reduced voluntary initiatives by organizations like Red Cross. Flood substantially. People and cattle can be moved to safer places. proofing is a combination of structural measures and emer- Also, timely forecasting can play an important role in the efficient gency action and it provides raised platforms of flood shelter functioning of reservoirs. The flood forecasting and flood warn- for people and cattle. Public utilities are generally raised above ing commenced in 1958, for the Yamuna River in Delhi, and flood levels in order to make the basic facilities Bflood proof.^ since then, it has evolved to cover most of the flood-prone inter- Satellite remote sensing coupled with geographical informa- state river basin of India. The Central Water Commission tion system has also been recommended through National (CWC), Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), has established Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) standing a flood forecasting system network covering 62 major rivers with committee with a view to give thrust towards implementation more than 175 stations for issuing flood forecasts covering al- of flood plain monitoring, zoning, and management measures. most all the flood-prone states of India. VHF/HF wireless com- The technology has been used successfully for monitoring and munication system is used for data collection with micro- mapping major floods as well as for assessing flood damages computers at the forecasting centers. The flood on October 5, in the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins (DOS 1997). However, 1968, in Kosi River is a classic example of managing the flood due to certain lapses like skill and costs, they have come up in using the forecasting technology in India (Lal 2006). The spatial a big way in encouraging the technology for flood manage- and temporal progress of flood forecasting stations has been ment in India. provided in Fig. 8. Annually, the CWC issues about 6000 flood forecasts and the accuracy level of these forecasts Flood plain zoning are above 90% and the accuracy level is quite consistent (Fig. 9), and flood forecasting system has helped in The increasing trend in the flood damage observed in India dur- reducing flood damages (CWC 2010). Besides, various ing the 1970s led to attempts for the development of flood plains hydrological models developed in collaboration with in a regulated manner. Therefore, Government of India has United Nations Development Program projects and drafted a flood plain zoning model bill in the year 1975 and the Danish Hydraulic Institute, Denmark, are also being same has been forwarded to various state governments for used extensively for inflow and flood forecasting and restricting the encroachments in flood plains. This model bill the forecasts are communicated to the administrative emphasizes on non-structural measures such as designating flood and the engineering departments for dissemination. The zoning authority, delineation of flood plain, and notification of major models developed, applied, and implemented for limits of flood plains; restrictions on use of flood plains; com- flood forecasting to various river basins of India include pensation; and power to remove construction after prohibition. SSARR, SHE, NAM, TANK, NWSH, HBV, DMBRK, The response of the state governments towards enactment of HEC, NWSRPS, and MIKE models (Seth 1998). In ad- flood plain zoning bill is not encouraging in most states of dition, India has signed important agreements relating to India, and only Manipur and Rajasthan have enacted the flood flood forecasting and warning with neighboring plain zoning legislation in 1978 and 1990, respectively, whereas 102 Page 14 of 19 Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Fig. 8 Progress of flood 200 a Flood forecasting stations forecasting stations in India. a 172 173 175 Temporal. b Basin-wise. c State- 175 157 159 145 wise (Source: Water Related 150 Statistics, Central Water 125 Commission, 2010) 100 79 84 75 43 50 25 1 2 0 1958 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 2001 2004 2005 2006 Years b Flood forecasting stations 100 87 75 50 27 25 18 15 9 9 5 4 1 0 River basins c 40 Flood forecasting stations 35 32 30 24 20 16 14 12 11 9 10 5 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 0 States major flood-affected states like Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West have been prepared but the scheme remained Bengal, Orissa, Goa, Punjab, Haryana Himachal Pradesh, and unimplemented in the country. The reluctance of the Sikkim have not considered such legislations. One of the major states to enact flood plain zoning regulation is mainly requirements to implement flood plain zoning measure is the due to population pressure and want of alternative live- availability of maps on a suitable scale to demarcate flood- lihood systems. prone areas. For this purpose, maps on a scale 1:15,000 or larger preferably with contours at an interval of Institutional measures 0.5 m for plain areas and 1 to 2 m for hilly areas are needed. However, these maps for the states of Assam, The subject of flood management falls within the purview of Bihar, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar the states. The flood control and management schemes are Pradesh, West Bengal, and Delhi covering 54,700 km2 planned, investigated, and implemented by the state Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Page 15 of 19 102 Fig. 9 Relationship between Total forecasts issued No. of accurate forecasts Accuracy of forecasts (%) flood forecasts issued and 9 100 accurate flood forecast in India during 1986–2008 (Source: Water 8 Related Statistics, Central Water Commission, 2010) 90 7 Accuracy of forecasts (%) Number of forecasts ('00) 6 80 5 4 70 3 2 60 1 0 50 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Years governments with their own resources as per priority within Brahamaputra Board (1982), National Water Development the state. The union government renders assistance to States Agency (1982), National Disaster Management Authority which is technical, advisory, catalytic, and promotional in na- (2005), National Flood Management Institute (2010), ture. Therefore, several union and state institutes are directly National Disaster Response Force (2010), National Institute or indirectly involved in flood control and management activ- of Disaster Management, Department of Agriculture and Co- ities in India. Based on the nature of services and support operation, Indian Meteorological Department, National provided, these institutes are risk-managing and crisis- Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, National managing institutes. Risk-managing institutes deal with struc- Remote Sensing Agency, North Bengal Flood Control tural and non-structural measures, whereas crisis-managing Commission, State Disaster Management Authority, State institutes are concerned with rescue, relief, and rehabilitation Disaster Response Force, District Disaster Management operations (Tariq and Giesen 2012). The CWC is an apex Authority, State Irrigation and Flood Control Departments, agency of flood control and management in India since State Public Works Department, State Revenue and Relief 1945. It had played a direct role in preparation of comprehen- Departments, and local authorities like Panchayati Raj institu- sive plans for flood management, monitoring the execution of tions and urban local bodies (municipal corporations, munic- important flood control schemes, techno economic examina- ipalities, district cantonment boards, town planning authori- tion of major and medium flood control, drainage and anti ties, etc.) play a pivotal role for control and management of erosion schemes, real-time collection of flood data, and flood floods. In addition, several Indian Institutes of Technology forecasting and dissemination of flood forecasts to the local (IIT) have been established by the Government of India with administration for planning suitable administrative measures the specific objective of providing engineering and technolog- including evacuation of people from flood-affected areas to ical education at par with international standards of excel- the safer locations. The Central Flood Control Board (CFCB) lence. Their civil engineering departments are doing com- has been established in 1954 and assigned the task of prepar- mendable job pertaining to flood problems. ing master plans and policies for flood control on a country- wide basis. However, it has become non-functional in 1977 due to its merger with the Conference of State Ministers of Discussion Irrigation. Indian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage has been entrusted with research and development The overall data of flood damages in India (Fig. 7b–j) dem- in flood management sector. Apart from CWC and CFCB, the onstrate an increasing trend from 1953 to 2009, which may be other related institutes which have been established by the due to the concentration of population in flood-prone areas union and state governments from time to time pertaining to such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal. It has in- flood management in India are Damodar Valley Corporation creased remarkably in recent years and the water-carrying (1948), Bhakra Beas management Board (1963), Ganga Flood capacity of the rivers has been affected by haphazard devel- Control Commission (1972), Sone River Commission (1980), opment in flood plains of the rivers. In addition, flaws in the 102 Page 16 of 19 Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 flood control works both at the level of planning and imple- flood problem (Fig. 7). Measures have been taken for flood mentation are probably the most important and serious causes. management, but there is no serious effort to increase the However, a reduction in the flooded area has been noticed system’s ability to cope with the fluctuations in annual and (Fig. 7a) and it is against the widespread reporting and beliefs seasonal flow in various river basins of the country. The aver- that the flooded area in the country has progressively in- age annual flow in Indian river systems is about 1953 km3, creased (Dogra 1997; Mohapatra and Singh 2003). and India’s current water storage capacity of completed pro- Historical trends of various losses show that the country ob- jects is around 177 km3 which is just 9% of the annual avail- serves alternate flood-rich and flood-poor periods. It is also ability. Thus, the flood storage capacity as a percentage of total worth mentioning that a slight respite has been observed in availability is negligible. Besides, several social and environ- flood damages on account of changing rainfall pattern mental costs such as evacuation, resettlement, inundation of resulting from recent climatic changes and anomalously, it forests, and changes in downstream hydrology are also asso- can be attributed to an overall decrease in the number of rainy ciated with dams and reservoirs. Therefore, construction of days over major parts (Guhathakurta et al. 2010) and execu- new dams and reservoirs has been hindered by environmental tion of various structural and non-structural measures in river organizations and inter-state disputes. In addition, the major basins of the country. problem in flood control and management has been the lack of Available statistics show that flood management in India scientific understanding of the complex physical process in- basically revolved around structural measures with a primary volved in flooding. focus on flood prevention and containing damages. However, the importance of crisis management strategies such as rescue, relief, and rehabilitation has been realized very lately in the Conclusions and suggestions country and various institutes like National and State Disaster Management Authorities and National Disaster Response The overall data on flood damages since independence till Force have been mooted. Interestingly, no solid strategy has date in India clearly exhibit an inadequate level of protec- been developed as yet to enhance the flood-fighting abilities tion in the country against floods. The primary reason for of individual communities. Flood plain mapping and zoning the failure of measures taken is the erratic nature of rain- have been initiated, but so far, no final and authentic product fall including changes in the cover and management prac- has been prepared to integrate flood monitoring and mapping tices in the highly fragile catchment areas. The nature of into existing flood management. New initiatives for structural floods varies drastically throughout the country due to and non-structural measures have been taken continuously but contrasting physiographic, climatic, hydrographic, demo- lack of operation, effectiveness, and continuity resulted in graphic, and socio-economic factors besides the misman- failures. Poor maintenance of embankments, check dams, agement in the structures constructed to prevent the and reservoirs is the example. In Bihar, when the length of floods. Therefore, flood management in India is a task embankments has been negligible in 1954, the flood-prone that requires both vast resources and comprehensive un- area was 2.5 million ha and after the construction of nearly derstanding of the flood problem. The present approach 3500 km embankments, the flood-prone area has increased to for flood management incorporates both structural and 7.1 million ha. The role of massive corruption in the construc- non-structural measures. However, their inter-linkage and tion of embankments, check dams, etc. cannot be denied at the combined efficiency still need to be more focused, opti- hand of government officials and powerful politicians (Dogra mized, and targeted towards the decided objectives within 1997). The floods caused by embankment breaches and dam a stipulated time frame. An understanding of the geomor- failures are much intense and hence more destructive com- phic, hydrologic, and hydraulic processes controlling pared to ordinary floods. The floods in Kosi basin during channel shape, size, and gradient of different rivers is a 2008 and Mahanadi basin during 1961, 1982, 1994, 2001, prerequisite for successful implementation of engineering and 2010 are the striking examples of embankment breach schemes. India also needs to assess the potential impacts and ineffective reservoir operation, respectively. The floods of climate change on rainfall and on the performance of also occurred due to sudden release of water in Mahanadi, flood-related infrastructure and begin planning for the Godawari, Krishna, Narmada, Chambal, Sabarmati, and necessary adaptation to the changing climate. Mahi rivers during 2006 (Thakur 2007). The embankment- Flood-zoning and flood-mapping projects must be and reservoir-induced floods proved in India that the structural completed on priority basis in consultation with the local measures to control floods have often been ineffective and bodies so that the legislation on flood plain zoning is inadequate (Sreekesh 2009). adopted. Flood forecasting constitutes one of the most The agricultural and industrial infrastructure of India de- important actions of flood disaster preparedness. pends on the water of various rivers in India. Alarming records Therefore, it is imperative to develop event-based flood of historical flood damages demonstrate the seriousness of the forecasting models with state-of-the art knowledge-based Arab J Geosci (2017) 10:102 Page 17 of 19 102 inputs and develop scenarios to tackle different flood di- interventionist approaches are required to achieve sustainable saster conditions. Advanced knowledge in science and flood management in India. technology like application of remote sensing and geo- graphical information system can be a very effective strat- Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the constructive re- marks by two anonymous referees that helped to improve the quality of egy for combating the perpetual floods in time (Rao et al. paper. 1983). In addition, these sophisticated technologies can be very useful for the planners in identifying and demarcat- ing the flood inundated areas along with locations that are References safe for opening relief camps. It is also suggested that specialized in-house and foreign trainings may be Asthana BN, Bharagava AN (1981) Dominant discharge for alluvial riv- imparted to officials in all areas of flood management ers. Irrigation and Power Journal 38:65–68 including hydrological data collection and its manage- Attri SD, Tyagi A (2010) Climate profile of India. 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