Q. What are flash floods? What are the causes and consequences of flash floods in India ? (Answer in 150 words).

04 Oct, 2022 GS III Daily Answer Writing 2022-23 ( Upgrade)
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Flash floods are the floods caused by heavy or excessive rainfall in a short period of time, generally less than 6 hours. About 12% of India is prone to floods.

Causes of flash floods in India:

  • Natural Causes:
  • Heavy Rains or Cloudbursts:. E.g., the Kedarnath tragedy in Uttarakhand.
  • Slow-moving thunderstorms. Eg: In Guwahati, causing landslides along with flash floods.
  • Narrow and steep rivers: As they flow more quickly, leading to flash floods. Eg: Hora River in Agartala 
  • Man-Made Causes:
  • Urban Concretisation: Hard surfaces prevent water absorption into ground E.g. Hyderabad flash floods 2020
  • Construction failure: Dam or Levee Breaks.
  • Deforestation: Land becomes obstruction-free and water flows with great speed.
  • Climate change: Glacial melt leading to Glacial Lake Outburst floods. Eg. Chamoli flash Floods. 

Consequences of flash floods in India

  • Economic Impact
  • Loss of Property & critical infrastructure (road, bridges, electricity è Reversal of developmental gains.
  • Disruption of Economic activities – Halted industries, scarcity of essential commodities & rise in inflation.
  • Fiscal burden on Govt – due to Post-disaster rescue & rehabilitation expenditure.
  • Social Impact
  • Loss of life: >5,000 lives lost annually.
  • Compromised hygiene: Sewage being washed into houses may led to disease outbreak. Eg. Cholera.
  • Public unrest - Increased stress; psychological trauma
  • Ecological losses: Loss of biodiversity, fertile soil cover, growth of invasive plants (lantana camara), etc.
  • including trees and plants being washed away during an extreme flood event.

Government has taken several steps to manage Flash Floods

  • Two tier flood management:
    • Central level: CWC, Brahmaputra board, Ganga Flood Commission, NDMA etc.
    • State level: Water Resources Depts, Flood Control Board.
  • Other initiatives: Intelligent early warning systems like IFLOWS (Eg. Mumbai), National Flood Commission (1980), R Rangachari Committee (2003), National Water Policy (2012) etc. 

Way Forward:

  • Structural measures: strengthening reservoirs, embankments, channelisation of rivers, etc.
  • Prevention & preparedness: flood forecasting, flood plain zoning (recognise river’s right of way), flood proofing (Eg. UP), integrated flood management (water & land use) etc
  • Coordination & Training of administrative functionaries, communities and last mile worker for better response.
  • Ecological buffers: Conservation of wetlands (adding Ramsar Protection), afforestation etc,
Thus, Sustainable flash flood management calls for adoption of Disaster resilience mantra, that is, “to live with water, build with nature and make room for the river”.

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