Question: Cosider the following statements:
(1) IFLOWS-Mumbai is a state-of-the-art flood warning system
(2) In 2005 Mumbai faced massive flood causing heavy loss of human lives
Of the above correct statement/s is/are:
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1&2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (c)
Related facts:
- Stepping up in Disaster Management preparedness, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurated IFLOWS-Mumbai, a state-of-the-art flood warning system on 12 June 2020.
- This flood warning system will enhance the resilience of city by making future action plan meticulously to deal with predicted high rainfall events and cyclones.
- The system has been developed in coordination with Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) leveraging in-house expertise and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
- Chennai is already equipped with such kind of system.
Methodology:
- I-FLOWS is built on a modular structure and comprises of seven modules, namely Data Assimilation, Flood, Inundation, Vulnerability, Risk, Dissemination Module and Decision Support System.
- The system incorporates weather models from National Centre for medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), India Meteorological Department (IMD), field data from the rain gauge network stations setup by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM),Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) and IMD, thematic layers on land use, infrastructure etc provided by MCGM.
- Based on inputs from weather models, Hydrologic models are used to transform rainfall into runoff and provides inflow inputs into the riversystems.
- The land topography, land use, infrastructure, population etc., was provided by MCGM and it was integrated into a Decision Support System to accurately estimate flood levels at ward level using thematic layers in GIS.
- A web GIS(Geographic Information System) based decision supports system is build to calculate the vulnerability and risk of elements exposed to flood.
Need:
- Having learned from the massive floods witnessed in 2005 and 2017 which swallowed thousands of lives,it was necessary to incorporate such Flood Warning System.
- Global Report on Internal Displacement 2020 unfurls that nearly five million people were displaced in India in 2019 because of disasters related to Southwest Monsoon and Cyclones.
- According to the State of India’s Environment, 2020 report India witnessed highest number of internal displacements in the world in 2019 caused by disasters and extreme weather conditions.
By-Amar Mani Upadhyay
Links:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1630928
https://www.internal-displacement.org/sites/default/files/publications/documents/2020-IDMC-GRID-executive-summary.pdf
https://www.cseindia.org/state-of-india-s-environment-2020-in-figures-10173