Lok Sabha Question No. 3527 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-10
Subject: Floods in Godavari River
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Margani Bharat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

## DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, RIVER DEVELOPMENT & GANGA REJUVENATION

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3527

ANSWERED ON 10.08.2023

## FLOODS IN GODAVARI RIVER

## 3527.   SHRI MARGANI BHARAT

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken cognizance of the recent floods in the Godavari river which has resulted in an unforeseen misery for the Tribals living in the State of Andhra Pradesh who had to trek up the hills to save themselves from the floods;

(b) if so, the details of the measures being undertaken in this regard and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(c)  the  details  of  other  measures  being  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  to  ensure  rehabilitation  of  flood  affected tribals?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI ( SHRI BISHWESWAR TUDU )

(a) & (b) Floods are natural calamity that India faces almost every year, in varying degrees of magnitude. The frequent occurrence of floods can be attributed to various factors, including wide variations in rainfall both in  time  and  space  with  frequent  departures from the normal pattern, inadequate carrying capacities of rivers, river bank erosion and silting of river beds, landslides, poor natural drainage in flood prone areas, glacial lake outbursts, etc.

Flood management falls within the purview of the States. Flood management and drainage projects are formulated and implemented by concerned State Governments from own resources as per their priority. The Union Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical guidance and also promotional financial  assistance  for  management  of  floods  in  critical  areas.  Integrated  flood  approach  aims  at  adopting judicious  mix  of  structural  and  non-structural  measures  to  provide  a  reasonable  degree  of  protection  against flood damages at economic cost.

To strengthen the structural measures of flood management, Union Government had implemented Flood Management Programme (FMP) during XI & XII Plans for providing central assistance to States for works related to flood control, anti-erosion, drainage development, anti-sea erosion, etc. which subsequently continued as a component of "Flood Management and Border Areas Programme" (FMBAP) for the period from 2017-18 to 2020-21 and was further extended up to September 2022 with limited outlay. 427 completed projects under FMP component of FMBAP have given protection to an area of around 4.994 Mha and protected a population of about 53.57 million. No project under FMP was funded by Government of India in Andhra Pradesh due to non receipt of eligible proposal from the State.

Central Water Commission (CWC) is the nodal Organisation entrusted with the task of flood forecasting & early flood warnings in the country. Presently, CWC issues flood forecasts for 338 forecasting stations (138 Inflow Forecast Stations & 200 Level Forecast Stations) which includes 25 States and UTs. The network has been established in consultation with the State Governments and UTs.   In order to provide more lead time to the local authorities to plan evacuation of people & take other remedial measures, CWC has developed basin wise flood forecasting model based on rainfall-runoff mathematical modeling for 5 days' advance advisory at its forecasting stations. CWC is providing flood forecasting service in the State of Andhra Pradesh at 20 locations (10 Level Forecast and 10 Inflow Forecast). 44 nos.  of level flood forecast and 24 inflow forecast have been issued during Monsoon 2023 (01.06.2023 to 31.07.2023) in respect of Godavari river in the State of Andhra Pradesh.

State Government of Andhra Pradesh has informed that in view of recent floods in the Godavari river, adequate measures were taken to safeguard the tribal people living in the vicinity of river Godavari in mandals of  Velairpadu,  Kukunoor,  Polavaram,  Chintoor,  Yetapaka,  Rampachodavaram.    Peak  discharge  received  at Dowlaiswaram barrage on Godavari river  on 17-07-2022 was safely discharged into the sea without any breach of Godavari flood banks.

(c) The primary responsibility of disaster management rests with the State Government concerned. The Central Government  supplements  the  efforts  of  the  State  Government  and  provides  requisite  logistics  and  financial support. The State Government undertakes assessment of damages caused due to 12 notified natural calamities including  rain  and  floods  and  provide  relief  assistance  from  State  Disaster  Response  Fund  (SDRF)  already placed  at  their  disposal  as  per  Government  of  India's  approved  norms.  Additional  financial  assistance  is provided  from  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  details  of  the  fund  allocated  and  released  under  the  SDRF  during  2023-24,  as  on  17.07.2023,  to Andhra Pradesh Government is given below:

| Name of the State   | Allocation of SDRF         | Allocation of SDRF       | Allocation of SDRF   | Release under SDRF            | Release under SDRF   |
|---------------------|----------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------|
|                     | Central Share in Rs. crore | State Share in Rs. crore | Total in Rs. crore   | 1 st Installment in Rs. crore | 2 nd Installment     |
| Andhra Pradesh      | 987.20                     | 328.00                   | 1315.20              | 493.60                        | -                    |