Lok Sabha Question No. 2305 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-06
Subject: Impact of Floods  in Assam
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Charanjit Singh Channi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2305

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 6 TH  AUGUST, 2024/ SHRAVAN 15, 1946 (SAKA)

IMPACT OF FLOODS IN ASSAM

2305     SHRI CHARANJIT SINGH CHANNI:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has assessed flood situations in Assam during the last five years and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Government has any specific plan to mitigate floods or the impact of floods in Assam and if so, the details thereof;

(c)  whether the Government has any data about the affected people by floods during the said period and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether the Government has given any compensation to the victims of floods in Assam and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a)  and  (b):      As  per  the  National  Policy  on  Disaster  Management,  the primary  responsibility  for  disaster  management,  including  disbursal  of relief to the affected people, rests with the State Governments concerned. The State Governments undertake relief measures in the wake of natural disasters from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), already placed at their disposal, in  accordance  with  the  Government  of India's  approved

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2305 FOR 06.08.2024

items  and  norms.    Additional  financial  assistance  is  provided  from  the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), as per laid down procedure in case of disaster of 'severe nature', which includes an assessment based on the visit of an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).

The  National  Remote  Sensing  Center  (NRSC),  Indian  Space  Research Organisation (ISRO) has prepared state level flood hazard zonation atlas for Assam using satellite data of 1998-2023. This serves as non-structural resources for flood hazard management, for developmental planning.

North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) / Department of Space (DOS) has generated River Atlas consisting of geospatial database of  Brahmaputra  River  in  Assam,  including  river  &  drainage  network, embankment locations, river gauge locations, road/  rail  network  etc.  at 1:5000  scale.  This  database  is  helpful  for  planning  and  management  of water resources.

NESAC,  Department  of  Space (DOS)  has  also  identified  271  wetlands, which can be utilized for channelising excess water from rivers, including Brahmaputra River, during monsoon season.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2305 FOR 06.08.2024

NESAC  has  also  developed  a  Flood  Early  Warning  System  (FLEWS)  for Brahmaputra  basin  in  the  state  of  Assam  based  on  numerical  rainfall prediction and a physics based distributed hydrological model in Geographic Information System (GIS) domain. Alerts are provided to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) with a lead-time of 24 to 36 hours.

Central Water Commission (CWC) issues flood forecasts as a non-structural measure  of  flood  management,  to  concerned  State  Governments  at identified locations.  CWC  also  issues  inflow  forecasts  to  identified reservoirs  for  proper  reservoir  regulation.  CWC  prepares  7-day  advisory flood  forecasts  through  basin-specific  mathematical  models  using  India Meteorological Department (IMD) weather forecast products and near realtime satellite rainfall estimates.  These flood advisories are disseminated through the web Portal https://aff.india-water.gov.in/home.php to stakeholders. In  addition  to  this,  CWC  has  67  hydrological  observations sites in Barak basin and 173 hydrological observation sites in Brahmaputra basin.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2305 FOR 06.08.2024

Further, the Government of Assam has informed that, the Water Resources Department has been implementing flood and River bank erosion management schemes as per the recommendation of the Rashtriya Barh Ayog (RBA). The Department has been implementing Short and Medium term solution to the perennial problem of flood and erosion in the State. The  Water  Resources  Department  of  the  Government  of  Assam  has protected 16.50 lakh hectares of flood-affected land, constructed 4532 km of embankments, 1280 numbers of anti-erosion and town protection works, 122 numbers of major sluice and 545 numbers of minor sluice and 1047.85 km of raising and strengthening of existing dyke till year 2023-24.

(c): This Ministry does not maintain any data centrally on affected people due to disasters, including floods.  However, as per information furnished by  State  Government  of  Assam,  details  of  casualties  as  a  result  of devastating floods in Assam State during last five years i.e. 2019 to 2023 and 2024 (as on 25.07.2024) is given as under:-

| Sl.No.   | Nameof   |   Years |   Years |   Years |   Years |   Years |                         | Total   |
|----------|----------|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|-------------------------|---------|
|          | State    |    2019 |    2020 |    2021 |    2022 |    2023 | 2024 (As on 25.07.2024) |         |
| 1.       | Assam    |     157 |     190 |      73 |     278 |      65 | 117                     | 880     |

(d): Further,  the  allocation  of  SDRF/  State  Disaster  Mitigation  Fund (SDMF) to States is based on the recommendations of successive Finance Commissions, set up under Article 280 of the Constitution, from time to time. The details of funds allocated and released from SDRF/ NDRF and SDMF to the State of Assam during last five years i.e. 2019-20 to 2023-24 is given as under:-

(Rs. in crore)

| Years   |   Annual allocation under SDRF |   Centre's share of SDRF released |   Released from NDRF | Allocation under SDMF   | Centre's share of SDMF released   |
|---------|--------------------------------|-----------------------------------|----------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2019-20 |                          559   |                             503.1 |                 0    | ----                    | ----                              |
| 2020-21 |                          686.4 |                             617.6 |                44.37 | 171.60                  | 154.40                            |
| 2021-22 |                          686.4 |                             617.6 |                 0    | 171.60                  | 154.40                            |
| 2022-23 |                          720.8 |                             648.8 |               250    | 180.20                  | 0.00                              |
| 2023-24 |                          756.8 |                             680.8 |                 0    | 189.20                  | 162.20 #                          |

#  Includes arrears of previous year.

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