Early warning system for floods launched for Guwahati

New Delhi, Aug. 13 (PTI): A tool to alert local authorities in Guwahati about flash floods and heavy rainfall was launched on Thursday.

Developed under The Energy and Resources Institute's (TERI) project supported by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in collaboration with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), the Flood Early Warning System (FEWS) can be replicated to predict urban floods in any part of the country.

Launched at an online event, the fully automated web-based tool will help take timely and appropriate measures in event of a natural disaster heading toward the city, TERI said in a statement.

"The FEWS pilot project was undertaken on an experimental basis, to enhance resilience for urban floods, in assistance with the Guwahati Municipal Corporation, North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) and TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS).

"This is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement during a meeting with the chief ministers of six states Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala wherein he highlighted the need for development of local-level flood warning system," said TERI.

Speaking at the launch event, Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI, said, "Nature-based risks can now be integrated into early warning system, which is how FEWS is designed. Together with science communication, the results of these assessments can enhance the resilience of flood-prone cities and geographies in the country.

"We are delighted that our FEWS assessments can provide a flood management roadmap for cities that have perennial issues of urban flooding," he said.

G V V Sarma, Member Secretary, NDMA said the expectations of the civil society on the disaster management apparatus is increasing every day.

"Despite many advances in science and technology, a lot of work remains to be done. Along with early warning system, we need techno-legal measures on ground such as protection of water bodies, solid waste management and cleaning of drainage channels ahead of the monsoo," he said.

"All state and districts are statutorily required to have their disaster management plans in consonance with National Disaster Management Plan 2019. They should make use of tools such as Early Warning System," he further added.

B P Yadav, DGM Hydrology, IMD talked about building flood forecasting capabilities at the local level.

"We have categorised the country into 27,000 watersheds, and based on it we issue flood warnings. With increasing incidents of urban flooding, our main focus is to develop local city-specific forecasting systems for accurate advisory.

"Currently there are 25 Doppler Weather Radars in India to detect or predict likelihood of high-intensity rainfall events. IMD will install 20 radars in hill districts in the Eastern and Western Himalayas in the next two years," Yadav said.

Explaining the features of FEWS, Prasoon Singh, Project Lead and Associate Fellow, Earth Science and Climate Change, TERI said early warning systems have proven to be an effective tool in reducing our vulnerabilities toward predicting natural disasters.

"Though assessing recurring events such as floods is complex due to multiple levels of interactions and dynamic nature of urban water system, tools such as FEWS, can be customised to incorporate such uncertainties, thereby improving our resilience against urban flooding."

"The system is developed with an inbuilt urban drainage to predict flood at street-level accuracy. The flood level and hotspot areas can be visualised over Google Maps which will help in identifying flood-affected areas, disaster preparedness, and management of urban flooding related issues such as traffic disruption, providing relief and recovery, and managing storm water," he added.