DROUGHT AND FLOOD MANAGEMENT SCENARIO IN INDIA

A.K. LOHANI SCIENTIST

Email: lohani@nih.ernet.in aklnih@gmail.com akl_nih@yahoo.co.in

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HYDROLOGY ROORKEE-247667

(UTTARAKHAND)

INDIA

FLOOD AND DROUGHTS

India is the most natural disaster prone area in the world. About 40 mha area of the country is flood prone and on average floods affect an area of about 7.5 mha About 153 mha are of the country is drought prone Every year country experiences these water extremes (floods and droughts) either on small or larger scale

 The Ganga and Brahamputra are the chronic flood prone river basins

The magnitude of precipitation over these basins is very high and more than three-quarters occurs during summer monsoon (June-Sept.).
Natural hazards such as floods, droughts, earthquakes and cyclones affect an estimated 25 million people every year India accounts for nearly one-fifth of global death due to floods

DROUGHT
Unlike other natural disasters, drought does not have a clearly defined beginning and end. As a result, our reaction to drought traditionally has not been timely.

DEFINITIONS OF DROUGHT
Meteorological drought Hydrological drought Agricultural drought

DROUGHT PRONE AREAS

Sl. No. 1

Meteorological sub-division

Assam

Frequency of deficient rainfall ( 75% of Normal or less) Very rare, once in 15 years

West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Konkan, Bihar and Orissa

South Interior Karnataka, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Vidarbha Gujarat, East Rajasthan, Western Uttar Pradesh Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and Telangana West Rajasthan

Once in 5 years

Once in 4 years

Once in 3 years

Once in 2.5 years

Once in 2 years

OBSTACLES TO EFFECTIVE DROUGHT MANAGEMENT PLANNING

Clarity About Beginning and End of Drought Randomness Associated with Drought Drought Phenomenon Economics of Droughts Social And Political Considerations

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Water Supply Conservation & Management Measures Water Demand Reduction and Management Measures Active demand reduction Reactive demand reduction Water Conservation Hydrological Preparedness for Impending Drought Impact Minimisation Efforts to Combat Desertification

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Rehabilitation of Mined Aquifers Research in Agro-meteorology Remote Sensing and GIS Application for Drought Management Decision Support System in Drought Management Peoples Participation in Drought Management

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Water Supply Conservation & Management Measures Development of new water supply Conjunctive Use Agronomic, Soil& Water Conservation Measures Watershed management Reservoir & Tanks Inter basin water transfer supply of treated domestic, Industrial and municipal waste water Artificial recharge Rainwater harvesting
Contd...

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Water Demand Reduction and Management Measures Active demand reduction Reactive demand reduction
Contd...

Active demand reduction Provision of legal restrictions establishment of thresholds for short term reduction to various users Land use planning Water pricing
High beyond a prescribed limit Incentives for using small amount of water

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Reactive demand reduction Use of Recycling System Selection of Cropping Pattern Reduction in Urban water supply Water budgeting in Industries

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Water Conservation Control of evaporation Rain water Harvesting Provision of water cisterns Water conservation campaign
Contd...

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Hydrological Preparedness for Impending Drought

Information on hydrological data

System of hydrological monitoring to solve

drought problems
Variability in the total amount of rainfall Variability in the total hydrologic process

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Impact Minimisation Anticipating actions and decisions before a drought actually occurs Variation of soil moisture, fluctuation of groundwater and streamflow Prediction of soil moisture using simulation model
Contd...

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Efforts to Combat Desertification
Contd...

More than 1/3 of the total land area of globe is prone to the hazards of desertification In India arid zone covers about 12% of countrys geographical area.
Rajasthan- 62% Gujarat - 19% Punjab & Haryana - 9% Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka - 10%

Special program launched since 1970-71

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Rehabilitation of Mined Aquifers Control of GW withdrawal Augmenting GW recharge

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Research in Agro-meteorology Need to give warning to farmers much in advance regarding seasonal variation in rainfall rainfall distribution climatic conditions & its variability

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Remote Sensing and GIS Application for Drought Management RS & GIS based Drought Information System Development of Drought Indices

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Decision Support System in Drought Management

Using a DSS, a person responsible for the actual project is able to make rational use of the system without an in-depth knowledge of modelling techniques

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Decision Support System in Drought Management

used for timely recognition of onset of drought. Identify area vulnerable to drought (in time domain). Updated information on availability of water (surface & Ground water) in space and time. Suggest the actions required by decision makers against the given scenario of

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Contd...

Peoples Participation in Drought Management

Involve common people Provide incentives Role of NGOs

FLOODS IN INDIA
Most frequent and devastating natural disaster Frequent with varying magnitude Hydro-meteorological conditions
Monsoon during four months

Flood risk to unprotected as well as protected areas Flood Prone Area - 40 m.ha(as per Rashtriya Barh Ayog) - 45.64mha (as reported by the States to the working Group for tenth plan)

FLOOD PRONE REGIONS IN INDIA

Brahmaputra River Region Ganga River Region North West River Region Central India and Deccan Region

FIVE MAJOR FLOOD PRONE STATES IN INDIA (As reported in RBA report)

ASSAM
BIHAR WEST BENGAL UTTAR PRADESH ORISSA

States Mostly Affected By Floods

80 70 60
Lakh ha
73.36

Flood Prone Area as per RBA Area Protected upto March 2002
42.6

50 40
31.5

30 20 10 0 Andhra Pradesh Assam

13.9 10.4 16.36

29.49

26.5 22.66 14 8.7 4.8 0.64 16.02

Bihar

Kerala

Orissa

Uttar West Pradesh Bengal

DEFINITIONS OF FLOOD
Defining a flood is a difficult task

Chow (1956) defined flood as, a flood is a relatively high flow which overtakes the natural channel provided for the runoff.
Rostvedt and others (1968): Included artificial channels WMO(1978) : rise in the water level Dhar & Nandargi(1998): Flood when water level crosses danger level

CAUSES AND CONDITION OF FLOODING IN INDIA

Very heavy local rainfall heavy rainfall synchronizing with river spill; cyclones; Spilling of water from streams due to low carrying capacity back water effect in tributaries when the main river carries heavy discharge landslides blocking in stream courses and ice jams resulting in the back water overflowing river banks; flooding in coastal area due to high tides; and inadequate drainage/ drainage congestion to carry away surface water with the desired quickness etc. flooding due to the failure of flood control structures.

TYPES OF FLOOD
Flash floods Single event floods Multiple event flooding Seasonal floods Dam break floods Floods due to drainage congestion

FLOOD PROBLEMS IN INDIA

about 41 million hectares, or nearly one eighth is considered flood prone about 8.6 M ha of land area is annually affected average annual damages of the order of Rs.2,500 Crores

CHRONIC FLOOD PRONE BASINS: a) GANGA b) BRAHMAPUTRA

FLOODING IN HIMALAYAN RIVERS DUE TO HIGH DISCHARGE DURING MONSOON MONTHS DEPOSITION OF SEDIMENTS CAUSE: a) RISE IN RIVER BED b) REDUCES CHANNEL CARRYING CAPACITY FLOODS ASSOCIATED WITH CYCLONES AS IN GUJARAT, ORISSA AND A.P.

AREA SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOOD DAMAGE: in 1960 ~ 19 M ha in RECENT TIMES ~ 59 M ha

POSSIBLE REASONS a) URBAN & INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION b) DEFORESTATION c) OVEREXPLOITATION & MISUSE OF CATCHMENTS CAUSING LOW WATER RETENTION AND INCREASED RUNOFF d) ENCROACHMENT IN FLOOD PLAINS

PAREECHU LANDSLIDE DAM

(Francis, S. et al, 2004, GIS Development)

A major landslide in Tibetan Himalaya on the banks of Pareechu river created an artificial dam which build up an artificial lake of approx. 200 hectares & 60 m deep.

MAGNITUDE OF FLOOD DAMAGES

MAGNITUDE OF FLOOD DAMAGES

MAGNITUDE OF FLOOD DAMAGES

MAGNITUDE OF FLOOD DAMAGES

CAUSES OF FLOOD IN THE BRAHMAPUTRA VALLEY

1. PHYSIOGRAPHIC CONDITION OF THE VALLEY
Width of the Brahmaputra river valley is only 80 to 90 km. The river itself covers about 6 to 10 km in most places and in places even up to 18 km. This condition lends it favourable for occurrence of frequent floods.

CAUSES OF FLOOD IN THE BRAHMAPUTRA VALLEY- contd.

2. Hydro-meteorological Conditions RAINFALL Heavy rainfall experienced every year due to south west monsoon. Annual rainfall ranges from 2480 mm to 6350 mm . Rainfall is largely concentrated during 4 to 5 monsoon months is responsible for the floods in the valley. The highest hourly rainfall recorded at Saralpara is 97.5 mm on 27.08.1977

CAUSES OF FLOOD IN THE BRAHMAPUTRA VALLEY- contd.

3. Earthquakes and

Landslides
The Brahmaputra basin lies in an area of acute seismic activity. (Zone V). The earthquakes of 1897 and 1950 are the most severe earthquakes. 3 m rise in the general low water level was observed at Dibrugarh. The rise of bed level of Brahmaputra after the 1950 earthquake resulted in the development of a number of new spill channels on both banks

CAUSES OF FLOOD IN THE BRAHMAPUTRA VALLEY- contd

5.

ENCROACHMENT OF RIVERINE AREAS

Upto the 19th century, population was comparatively thin and human habitation was away from the river banks. The population increased manifold during the 20th century resulting in encroachment of riverine areas. Such encroachment decreased the waterway of river leading to spilling of banks and causing floods.

FLOOD MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

Structural Measures Non-structural Measures

FLOOD MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL

Structural Measures
Reservoirs for the temporary storage of flood waters Embankments (dikes or levees) and flood walls The improvement of river channels to enlarge their discharge carrying capacity Bypass and diversion channels to carry some of the excess flood water

NON-STRUCTURAL MEASURES
Flood Forecasting Flood Magnitude and Lead Time Conventional Regression Method Rainfall-Runoff Models ANN Fuzzy Logic

NON-STRUCTURAL MEASURES...
Dam Break Flood Wave Simulation Predict Flood Characteristics: Peak Stage, Discharge, volume, flood wave, Travel Time Analysis is required for planning purpose

NON-STRUCTURAL MEASURES...
Flood Inundation Mapping Remote Sensing & GIS Techniques
Reasonable good estimate Timely information Covers large area Useful in planning purpose

NON-STRUCTURAL MEASURES...

Flood plain Zoning

These provide information about:

the areas to be inundated by floods return periods of the floods depth of flooding over the flood affected areas and the risk associated with the flooding

NON-STRUCTURAL MEASURES...
Flood Insurance
Most effective method to regulate the land uses in the flood plain. Insurance premium is charged depending upon the nature nature and location of establishment In India Scheme is not yet implemented

NON-STRUCTURAL MEASURES...
Data Aqusition System
Input Processors Knowledge based real time flood forecasting system Output Processors Information Dissemination
DSS FOR REAL TIME FLOOD FORECASTING

CONCLUDING REMARKS
DROUGHT MANAGEMENT
Drought have Low priority Drought Planning & Management schemes
after persistence drought

After normal rainfall rapid

decrease in drought planning schemes

DSS at basin scale

outputs at Administrative scales

People participation Publication campaign

Electronic & Print Media

CONCLUDING REMARKS
FLOOD MANAGEMENT
Study of flood phenomenon Study of Sediment Phenomenon A combined approach considering structural and non-structural measures Use of GIS & RS Need to develop a DSS Need to improve cooperation & coordination between different organisations

THANK YOU