Social Studies Project Work

Flood damage mitigation

Introduc on
According to NDMA website, damage to crops, houses and public u li es worth
₹ 1805 crores occur on average every year in India and on average 1600 lives are
lost every year. Despite diversity in Indian topography, the floods are not limited
to a par cular region, though certain regions in India like coastal areas and
North-eastern India are highly affected by floods. There are many methods to
mi gate these damages by execu ng different programmes at individual level to
na onal level.

Extent of damage
The floods that occur every year in India, mostly during monsoon season, causes
damage at mul ple levels:

1. Damage to Property: Floods cause damage to houses, buildings, roads,

bridges, power lines. It washes away crops, livestock and vehicles. In 2023,
floods caused extensive damages to the Supreme Court and the Red Fort
in Delhi.
2. Displacement: In recent floods in U aranchal and Himachal Pradesh,
many people had to live their homes, as they were damaged and had to
move to safer areas ll the floods a er effects were reduced.
3. Environmental degrada on: The floods cause nega ve impacts on
environment by soil erosion, damage to natural habitat of flora and fauna.
It also affects survival of endangered species.
4. Economic Loss: Flood affect the export capabili es of India due to effect
on the crops in rural areas and on services sectors like IT etc. and
manufacturing sector in urban areas. The floods also directly or indirectly
affect the tourism sector.
Flood damage Mi ga on and Management
According to the affected area, different measures and precau ons can be taken
to reduce the effects of flood damage. These are some of the methods, we can
apply and precau ons, we can take:
1. Reduce deforesta on and promote afforesta on:

a) Intercep on evapora on: The forest land area reduces the rain flow volume to the
ground due to concept of intercep on evapora on. Due to this mechanism, some
raindrops are intercepted and leaves and branches of trees and plants in dense
forests and converted to microscopic par cles.

b) Root Water absorp on and infiltra on: The big trees with strong roots and stems
in forests act as barrier to the running water and stop the flow. This reduc on in
water flow help in absorp on by soil which contributes to the ground water in the
land.

c) Soil Reten on: As roots use earth to firmly hold stem, the soil is retained by the
trees and reduce the flow and wash away of top soil, which retains the fer lity of
soil in forest areas and reduce the damage in slopes and plains because the mass
of the flood flow contains water only.
2. Deterrents construc on:

a) Dams and reservoirs: The government and local governing bodies need to do
water surplus management and
build dams and reservoirs to
reduce the flow of river floods
and store water so that same
can be available in off-season.
Dams have other benefits like
electricity genera on and
growth of fauna and flora. In
rural areas, local governing
bodies can be encouraged to construct ponds near hill bo oms and to strengthen
exis ng natural reservoirs to avoid water leaks and overflows.

b) Seawalls and flood walls:

Many countries like Netherlands which have

land regions at or below sea level, have
constructed sea walls at high cost as a future
plan to stop sea water from entering these
regions. Similar structures can be constructed
near rivers and other large natural ponds as per
the flood vulnerability. The high walls also help
in increasing the storage capacity of the
reservoirs. These embankments can also be
used to divert excess water to other
channels and provide road access and
recrea onal facili es. The Bhakra
Nangal Dam and the Kosi
embankment projects are some of
the highlights in this area.

c) Regular Maintenance of exis ng structures: As important is the construc on of

these deterrents, it is
equally important to
maintain them. The
damage caused due to
failures in Machu II,
Nandgaon, Pratapura
dams explain how
important is the
regular maintenance and checkup of structures. The procedures that can be
applied are as below:
i) Desil ng and dredging of the river sediments and debris from the river
banks, lakes etc. help in water holding capacity of these water bodies.
ii) Regular reinforcement using boulders and concrete to strengthen the walls
and boundaries.
iii) Construc on of boundaries in the lower walls of the natural water bodies
also increase storage capacity.
In fact, lack of these procedures was one of the major reasons responsible for the
damage to Farakka Barrage and 1998 Malda flood.
3. Preparedness:

a) NDMA guidelines: We can prepare ourselves with government’s help by:

i) Floodplain zoning to regulate land use and reduce flood damage by

demarca ng areas for se lement, prohibi ng development in high-risk
zones, evacua on planning to priori se on the basis of vulnerability from
more vulnerable to less vulnerable areas, demarca on of highlands for
people se lement ll the flood subsides.
ii) Flood proofing in form se lements in highlands with facili es like
availability of food and fodder, communica on channels and health
services in case of occurrence of flood.
iii) Flood management plans depending upon the topography, frequency of
flood and popula on vulnerability.
iv) Programmes like ‘Aapda Mitra’ to train volunteers in 30 most flood-prone
districts across the country.

v) Promo ng conserva on and restora on of natural flood buffers like

wetlands and forests.

b) Water flow management: We can reduce flooding by:

i) Crea ng appropriate diversions to transferring excess water to areas which
are prone to drought and storage reservoirs in those areas.
ii) Iden fying drainage conges on and remove those blockages to improve
water drainage and quick rese lement in flood prone areas.
c) Forecas ng and Warning: A system based on satellite data and last history can
provide us informa on to forecast and warn the communi es in vulnerable areas
to prepare for any calamity. 2-D models like the picture give below can help us
know the mo on of water in finite volume.
This will help in determining when and
how the flood will come when the water
level increases a certain level and also in
modifying the food plains to suit our
purposes.

d) Flood Disaster management Team: A flood disaster management team can be

setup at local and na onal level to use remote sensing satellites for resource
management and track progress of the execu on of plans. These satellites provide
high resolu on images which can help the team in prepara on phase to track
progress of plans during floods to manging post floods rese lement to flood
mi ga on plan.

e) Flood awareness and Educa on: The government can help by:
i) Social awareness: Ini a ng social programmes
through officials, media, NGOs and communi es to
make people aware and reduce s gma about
floods.

ii) Construc on guidelines: People can be made aware about the

construc on guidelines for flood affected areas and train construc on
workforce to follow those guidelines while construc ng buildings.
 4. Post flood management: While we should prepare and plan to avoid flood damage,
no prepara ons can be enough. We should plan and prepared for early response to
flood disaster and quick recovery. Here are some of the ways we can reduce damage
by:

a) Quick movement of NDRF team to affected areas to quickly evacuate the affected
people and livestock.
b) Release of relief fund to appropriate governing bodies to start rese lement.
c) Re evalua on of exis ng plans for the affected areas and re submission and
execu on of revised plans.
d) Providing Flood Insurance to reduce burden of relief and rehabilita on on people
and government and encourage risk reduc on measures by people.

Conclusion
India is a country which receives ample amount of rain during monsoons and due to recent
changes in the climate trends and effect of global warming on glaciers, the chances of rain and
uneven distribu on of rain every year have increased. Due to these changes, people need to
be more aware and alert regarding the disasters like droughts and floods. Government needs
to enforce applica on of flood safety rules and guidelines to mi gate damage caused by
floods. Government should use projects to link rivers and construct dams according to the
flow and volume of the river in extreme condi ons.