India's Flood-Prone Areas To Be Mapped - But Only By 2022


New Delhi: In perhaps a case of better late than never, India will soon begin inundation mapping of its flood-prone areas - the existence of such a protocol could have mitigated the extent of the Uttarakhand disaster - but the exercise will be complete only by 2022, a senior official has said.

Secretary (Water Resources) S. K. Sarkar told IANS in an interview that the inundation maps will make use of data obtained through remote sensing technology and help district administration officials estimate how much area will be covered by flood waters.

He said water resources ministry will increase the number of forecasting stations and move towards preparing inundation maps for the flood-prone areas of the country in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) period, adding that the exercise would be completed by the 13th Plan (2017-22) period.

"Inundation mapping requires contour maps and river data. The CWC, Survey of India and NRSC (National Remote Sensing Agency) are working on the issue," Sarkar said.

The inundation maps will pictorially represent areas that would come under water for every metre's increase in a river's level above the danger mark.

The total flood-prone area in the country has been estimated to be 45.65 millon hectares based on reports by states to the working group on a flood control programme for the 10th Plan.

Source: IANS