The Centre has finally decided to develop dynamic flood forecasting models for the major river basins in the country, M Rajeevan, Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has said.
“We have decided to engage Balaji Rajagopalan, a hydrologist with the University of Colorado in the US, to develop a prototype flood forecasting model for the Indian rivers. This will be funded through the ongoing National Monsoon Mission,” Rajeevan told
Kerala flood crisis
The move assumed some urgency with the deluge in Kerala just claiming around 300 lives and causing humongous economic loss. According to unconfirmed reports 83,000 km of roads and 221 bridges in Kerala were severely damaged by floods since the first week of August and as many as 771 villages were inundated.
Rajagopalan, recently elected as a Fellow of the prestigious American Geophysical Union, confirmed the development and said the project would develop a hydrologic system for Indian rivers.
“There is quite a bit of experimental forecasting being done by researchers in India (who will be on this proposal). Our idea is to evaluate the forecasting systems used here in the US and those in India to develop a skilful forecasting system,” Rajagopalan told BusinessLine in an email interview.
US experience
The India-born scientist, who has a basic B Tech degree in civil engineering from National Institute of Technology in Kurukshetra and M Tech from the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, has been part of the team that was involved in developing a world-class model for managing the Colorado river basin in the US.
According to him, the original idea was to develop a flood forecasting system for the Narmada river, which has now been extended to include many Indian rivers, including the peninsular rivers.
“We are close to sending in our revised proposal following comments from the reviews.
This will then be reviewed by Indian experts before a final recommendation is made. We are hoping it will be in the affirmative,” he said.
The India Meteorological Department already has flood warning centres for many major rivers such as the Narmada, Tapto, Yamuna and the Ganga. But they focus mainly on forecasting floods in major urban areas on the banks of these rivers.
The Central Water Commission too has flood warning (and forecasting) systems in place for many Indian rivers, but, according to experts, the efficiency of these forecasts leaves much to be desired.