core sector communique

Flood Early Warning System Project

The Flood Early Warning System (FLEWS) project is aimed to provide advance information on flood events as an input to disaster preparedness. However, FLEWS is not intended to prevent an impending flood event. FLEWS was initiated as Research and Development (R&D) project, at the behest of North Eastern Council (NEC) during 2009. It is currently extended to 14 districts in Assam covering both Brahmaputra and Barak valley on an operational basis. The FLEWS project has been improving over the years both in terms of success rate in forecasting flood events (i.e., actual flood occurrence or rise in river level) and also in improving the lead time (time difference between the forecast issued and event occurrence). The success rate of flood prediction has improved from 25% in the year 2009 to 75% in the year 2011. During the current year the success rate has further improved to 80% for a total of 21 forecasted events in the 14 districts. The maximum lead time of forecast has improved from 7 hours to 18 hours during the same period. The FLEWS model is terrain specific and in addition to satellite based inputs, in-situ data on rainfall and river discharge at critical points is also required. The Central Water Commission (CWC), Ministry of Water Resources is mandated for flood forecasts in India and Department of Space does not have any plan for extending FLEWS to other States including Odisha. The above information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions and in the Prime Minister’s Office, Shri V. Narayanasamy to the Parliament.