Lok Sabha Question No. 4467 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-19
Subject: Recurring Floods and Flood Disasters
Ministry: JAL SHAKTI
Asked by: Shri Utkarsh Verma Madhur, Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Shri Sanjay Uttamrao Deshmukh, Shri Sanjay Haribhau Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF JAL SHAKTI

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4467

ANSWERED ON 19.03.2026

## RECURRING FLOODS AND FLOOD DISASTERS

†4467. SHRI SANJAY UTTAMRAO DESHMUKH:

SHRI SANJAY HARIBHAU JADHAV:

SHRI UTKARSH VERMA MADHUR:

SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT:

Will the Minister of JAL SHAKTI be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken note of the recurring floods and flood disasters across the country during the last ten years and if so, the details thereof along with the number of States, villages, families and people affected therefrom during the said period, State-wise, particularly in Maharashtra;

(b) whether the Government has also taken note of the acknowledgement by the concerned authorities that fragile embankments, encroachments, deforestation and poor drainage have aggravated such crises and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has assessed similar risks in other flood-prone States including Maharashtra and if so, the details thereof;

(d) the number of embankments that failed along with the number of embankments that were breached during the current monsoon;

(e) the details of the Government's short-term and long-term flood mitigation plans including watershed and  catchment  management, wetland  restoration  and  modern  early-warning  systems,  State  and  districtwise  along  with  the  measures  taken  to  provide  permanent  rehabilitation  and  resettlement  to  persons displaced due to floods; and

(f) the details of the funds allocated for the said purpose during the said period, State-wise along with the steps taken to compensate farmers whose cultivable land has been eroded or submerged by rivers due to floods?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI

## (SHRI RAJ BHUSHAN CHOUDHARY)

(a) to (d) The country faces the recurring floods in different States in varying degree. As per report of Central  Water  Commission  (CWC)  on  'Assessment  of  Area  Affected  Due  to  Floods  in India  (2024)' based on satellite imageries data from 1986 to 2022, the total flood affected areas in India is assessed as 21.213 Mha and area protected through various  steps  taken  for  flood  management  by  the Central/State Government is 20.538 Mha. The above report with State-wise details is available on

https://cwc.gov.in/sites/default/files/assessment-area-affected-due-floods-india.pdf. As per the report, area affected and area protected in Maharshtra is 0.888 MHa and 0.001 MHa respectively.

The  data  like  villages,  families,  people  affected,  number  of  embankments  failed/breached  is  not maintained centrally.

(e)  &  (f) Flood  management and anti-erosion schemes  are formulated and implemented by  concerned State Governments 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. Short-term and longterm  flood  mitigation  measures   include  watershed  and  catchment  management,  wetland  restoration, strengthening  of  early  warning  systems  and  floodplain  zoning. Union  Government  is  implementing  a centrally  sponsored  "Flood  Management and Border Areas Programme(FMBAP)" for providing central assistance  to  States  for  works  related  to  flood  control,  anti-erosion,  drainage  development,  anti-sea erosion, etc. during 2021-26. Total central assistance amounting to Rs. 8818.66 crore has been released under FMBP component to various states upto March 2025.

Central Water Commission (CWC) maintains a network of 350 flood forecasting stations (150 Inflow Forecast Stations + 200 Level Forecast Stations) as per Standard Operating Procedure. Out of this 350 stations,  22  Flood  Forecasting  stations  are  in  Maharashtra  (8  level  forecasting  stations  and  14  Inflow forecast stations in Godavari and Krishna basin). 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  modelling  for  7  days  advance  flood  forecast advisory at identified flood forecasting and inflow forecasting stations in addition to short-range forecast having response time upto 24 hours.

Ministry  of  Jal  Shakti  has  continuously  impressed  upon  the  States  the  need  to  adopt  flood  plain zoning approach as a non-structural measure of flood management in the country. In order to enable States to  undertake  scientific  assessment  of  flood  plains  and  its  zoning  as  a  non-structural  measure  of  flood mitigation,  a  technical  guideline  on  Flood  Plain  Zoning  have  been  prepared  and  circulated  to  the States/UTs in August, 2025 by Ministry of Jal Shakti.

State  Government  is  primarily  responsible  for  providing  necessary  relief  measures  in  the  wake  of notified  calamities  from  funds  available  in  the  form  of  the  State  Disaster  Response  Fund  (SDRF)  in accordance with the Government of India approved items and norms. Additional financial assistance, over and  above  SDRF,  is  considered  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 financial assistance provided under SDRF and NDRF is by way of relief and not for compensation.

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