Lok Sabha Question No. 1526 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-09
Subject: Flood Forecasting Stations
Ministry: WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANAGA REJUVENATION
Asked by: MAUSAM NOOR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1526 ANSWERED ON 09.03.2017

## FLOOD FORECASTING STATIONS

## 1526.        SHRIMATI MAUSAM NOOR

## Will  the  Minister  of  WATER  RESOURCES,  RIVER  DEVELOPMENT  AND  GANGA REJUVENATION be pleased to state:

(a) the details of various organizations dedicated for flood forecasting in the country;

(b) the details of cost effective measures taken by the Government for the purpose;

(c)  whether  there  are  any  reports  of  delay  and  inaccuracy  in  forecasting  of  floods  and transmitting data of the same especially about flood prone inter-State rivers, if so, the details thereof and the corrective action taken thereon;

(d) the details of flood forecasting stations established in West Bengal; and

(e) whether the Government proposes to establish more flood forecasting stations to monitor the flood situation prevalent in the country especially West Bengal, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT AND GANGA REJUVENATION

## (DR. SANJEEV KUMAR BALYAN)

(a) Central  Water  Commission  started  flood  forecasting  service  in  the  year  1958  by establishing  first  scientific  flood  forecasting  unit  (FFU)  at  Delhi  for  issuing  water  level forecasts  of  Yamuna  for  the  National  Capital,  Delhi.  A  Flood  Forecast  and  Warning Organisation  was  set  up  in  1969  to  establish  forecasting  sites  on  interstate  rivers  in  the country  and  41  forecasting  sites  were  added  in  1969.  Up  to  XI  Plan,  Central  Water Commission had set up a network of 175 Flood Forecasting Stations which included Inflow forecasting  for  28  reservoirs  covering  18  States/UTs.  At  present  there  are  199  flood forecasting stations which include inflow forecasting for 48 reservoirs covering 22 States/UTs. The details of institutions associated with flood forecasting are at Annexure-I .

(b)  Currently,  on  an  average  6000  flood  warnings  are  issued  annually  with  an  accuracy  of above 96%. It is expected that with expanded network of flood forecast systems, these would go upto 10,000 annual warnings covering hitherto uncovered area with an enhanced lead time of  upto  72  hours.  This  would  give  community  enough  time  to  ensure  preventive  action  to save life and property.

(c) There is no report of delay in flood forecasting services by CWC within its established network. The network is being expanded to cover more flood prone areas of the country. The rainfall-runoff  based  mathematical  models  utilizing    observed  rainfall,  Automatic  Weather Station(AWS)/Automatic Rain Gauge(ARG) data and Quantitative Precipitation Forecast(QPF) of IMD for more warning/lead time say up to 3 days is being adopted in select basins in formulation of forecast.

- (d) The details of existing flood forecasting stations in West Bengal are as follows :

|   Sr No | Site Name            | Local River   | District    |
|---------|----------------------|---------------|-------------|
|       1 | Gheropara            | Ajoy          | Birbhum     |
|       2 | Messanjore Dam       | Mayurakshi    | Dumka       |
|       3 | Tilpara Barrage      | Mayurakshi    | Birbhum     |
|       4 | Narayanpur           | Mayurakshi    | Murshidabad |
|       5 | Domohani Road Bridge | Teesta        | Jalpaiguri  |
|       6 | Ghugumari            | Torsa         | Cooch Behar |
|       7 | Mathabhanga          | Jaldhaka      | Cooch Behar |
|       8 | Jaldhaka NH-31       | Jaldhaka      | Jalpaiguri  |
|       9 | Toofanganj           | Raidak-1      | Cooch Behar |
|      10 | Farakka              | Ganga         | Murshidabad |
|      11 | Durgapur Barrage     | Damodar       | Burdwan     |
|      12 | Harinkhola           | Mundeswari    | Hoogly      |
|      13 | Kangsabati Dam       | Kangsabati    | Bankura     |
|      14 | Mohanpur             | Kangsabati    | Medhinipur  |

Inflow forecasts are issued for Messanjore Dam, Tilpara Barrage, Farakka, Durgapur Barrage & Kangsabati Dam and level forecasts for rest of the stations.

(e) This  Ministry  has  approved  a  Plan  Scheme  during  XII  Plan  for  Rs.281  crore  for flood forecasting,  modernisation  and  expansion  of  the  flood  forecasting  network  for automatic  data  collection,  expeditious  transmission  and  flood  forecast  dissemination. The Flood Forecasting  network  is  b e i n g   expanded  to  275 flood forecasting stations covering 25 States/UTs. Simultaneously, the support network of hydrological observation sites would be increased to 1118, out of which 1074 stations would be  on an automatic satellite based telemetry system.

New forecasting  stations  have  been  selected  on  the  basis  of  requests  received  from  State Governments and priorities among them. As no request was received from the West Bengal Government, no new forecasting station is planned under XII Plan in West Bengal State.

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## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.1526  FOR  ANSWER  ON  09.03.2017  REGARDING 'Flood Forecasting Stations'.

## Details of institutions associated with flood forecasting in India

|   Sr No | Institutions                                  | Ministry/ Department                                                | Parameter Observed/ Associated Activities   |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Central Water Commission (CWC)                | Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation | River Monitoring & Flood Forecasting        |
|       2 | Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)        | Ministry of Earth Sciences                                          | Weather monitoring & forecasting            |
|       3 | National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC)         | Department of Space                                                 | Satellite observation                       |
|       4 | State Governments                             | -                                                                   | Warning &Mitigation                         |
|       5 | National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) | -                                                                   | Disaster related policy formulation         |
|       6 | Union Ministry of Home Affairs                | -                                                                   | Overall inter-agency coordination           |

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