Endless cycle of drought and deluge

Rakesh Lohumi

An aerial view of the flood-affected areas in Belagavi, Karnataka, on August 11.

With large tracts in the country reeling under floods caused by e x c e s s i v e rains,the country is experiencing yet another erratic monsoon. After a delayed arrival and sluggish movement in the first half of the season,it unleashed its fury with more severity and over a larger area.

Some parts in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka received 5 to 20 times higher than the long-term average of the day. Mysuru, Baroda, Pune, and Kolhapur were among the cities, which had record precipitation.

Apart from highly flood-prone states like Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, there has been widespread inundation in many other states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. In hill states like Uttrakhand and Himachal flashfloods and landslides are wreaking havoc. The monsoon seems to be getting more destructive with each passing year.

Floods are common during the rainy season. However, in recent years the frequency of floods has been increasing with storm surges sweeping through major cities like Mumbai, Gurgaon and Chennai.Out of the country’s total geographical area of 329 million hectare,over 12 per cent, around 40 to 45 million hectare is prone to floods.

A view of a flooded area following in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Muzaffapur, Bihar ,received 195 per cent surplus rainfall between July 11 and 17 this year

A view of a flood-affected Malappuram, Kerala Until recently, the damage was minimal as people s c r u p u l o u s l y avoided raising settlements on the flood plains. With almost 60 per cent of the arable land still lacking assured irrigation, the r a i n - b e a r i n g southwest winds were seen as the harbinger of e c o n o m i c prosperity.
Reeling under a s c o r c h i n g summer, people of the waterstressed mainland anxiously await the arrival of monsoon, which accounts for over 70 per cent of the country’s annual precipitation. However, the rapidly increasing population has changed the situation and the monsoon is no longer an “unmixed” blessing.
Human activity has spread all over, including flood zones and steep hills, which are prone to landslides, increasing the destructive potential of heavy rains and floods manifold.The important weather phenomenon on which the country’s economy hinges is becoming increasingly erratic. Uncertainty over its arrival, withdrawal and its irregular movement keeps farmers on tenterhooks.
For large parts of the country the onset of monsoon merely signifies a transition from drought to deluge. The rainfall is uneven due to wide variations in precipitation caused by climate change.While some areas get pounded by incessant heavy rains for weeks together, leading to devastating floods, others continue to reel under severe drought.

Vehicles moving through a water-logged road after heavy rains in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

Frequent instances of high intensity downpours that cause extensive damage to life and property along with long dry spells have become common during the four-month (June to September) period. The monsoon invariably leaves behind a trail of misery and destruction, which is getting wider and longer by the year.

Last year the monsoon arrived on May 29, two days earlier than the normal onset date of 1st June.This year it was delayed by more than a week and hit the coastal belt of Kerala, the first state to receive monsoon rains, on June 8. Apart from climate change, a consequence of global warming,unregulated and excessive anthropogenic activities are enhancing the destructive potential of the seasonal rains.

Environmentalists have been asserting for long that climate change being caused due to global warming will lead to frequent extreme weather events like drought, floods and other hydrological phenomena. They have been underlining the need for taking effective preventive measures, failing which the Mother Nature will make humans pay a huge price.

The government has been making piecemeal efforts, mainly raising physical structures like dams and embankments to control floods. Of late, advancements in technology have enabled more accurate forecasting of weatherrelated events and the deep penetration of communication network has made it possible to put early warning system in place. It is being used in some cyclone and flood-prone areas but such systems need to be installed in all the flood - prone areas across the country.

The impact of climate change will be more pronounced in Asian countries like India, which have a high concertation of population and scant resources.

As per the latest Global Climate Risk Index 2019 released at the Katowice summit held in Poland,South Asian countries are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. While India is at the 14th place, Sri Lanka (2), Nepal (4) and Bangladesh(9) figure among the top ten most vulnerable countries. These regions will have to cope with ever increasing number of climate-driven events like severe cyclones, intensive and excessive rainfall and devastating floods.

Damaged cars after a landslide at Puthumala , Wayanad, Kerala

Floods are already taking a heavy toll and on average every year over 1600 people and 92,000 heads of cattle perish and around 8 million hectare of land gets affected. As per the information provided by the Central Water Commission to the Rajya Sabha last year, between1953 and 2017 as many as 107,487 people lost their lives due to heavy rains and floods across India.The loss on account of damage to crops, private and public property, was pegged at Rs 365,860 crore.

While the main reason of floods has been high intensity rainfall over short duration, a climate driven phenomenon, which is occurring more frequently with the ongoing climate change. However, the massive damage being caused on the ground is more due to man-made factors like haphazard and intensive urbanization, disruption of natural drainage, unplanned reservoir regulation, encroachments on river banks and largescale deforestation.

So far, the government has been making piecemeal efforts, mainly raising physical structures like dams and embankments to control floods. Of late, advancements in technology have enabled more accurate forecasting of weather-related events and the deep penetration of communication network has made it possible to put early warning system in place. It is being used in some cyclone and flood-prone areas but such systems need to be installed in all the flood -prone areas across the country.

Despite all the measures, floods are taking a heavy toll of life and property. Failure of flood control structures and unplanned release of water from reservoirs aggravates the problem. Embankments are overtopped during heavy rains and the surge water inundates the protected areas.The multipurpose dams built to store water for meeting the requirement during subsequent rain-deficit periods are often almost full midway during the season.

In the event of a high intensity or a prolonged spell of rain, which is quite often, the authorities are forced to release water onlyto worsen the flood situation. Damson major rivers like Satluj, Beas, Mahanadi, Godavari and Damodar have considerably reduced the intensity and incidence of floods in downstream areas but the problem remains.

Environmentalists maintain that no mitigation plan will remain effective in the long term, unless supported by a prudent land use policy that strictly regulates human activity not only in the flood plains but also in the uphill catchment areas of rivers. Largescale deforestation, unrestrained mining, encroachments and unauthorized construction in ecologically fragile hills have added to the flood risk in downstream areas.

The destructive fallout of extreme weather-related events can be mitigated by taking appropriate short-term and longterm preventive measures and adopting an environment-friendly development policy to check any further degradation. A location specific integrated approach that combines both structural and non-structural measures can prove to be effective. A comprehensive flood plan management plan that delineates the measures required to deal with the existing flood risk and provides a blueprint for undertaking future development in such areas is the key to risk mitigation.

Haphazard development can disrupt natural flows and change the flood behaviour, the depth and speed of water, which makes it hazardous for life and property. Embankments, roads, rail tracks and other projects can also change the course of flow and increase the risk.Adequate number of culverts has to be provided on roads and rail lines running across the direction of the flow of floodwater and canals should pass through aqueducts in flood- affected areas to ensure that surge flow is not obstructed.No major development should be allowed in highly flood-prone areas and all possible efforts should be made to restore natural drainage in the existing areas.

The flood hazard is also enhanced by unplanned urbanisation, which makes large stretches of land impervious. It reduces ground absorption and increases surface run-off. Inadequate drainage in urban areas also leads to flooding in major cities like Gurgaon, Bhuvneshwar and Mumbai. The large scale felling of roadside trees for widening and upgrading of highways is also contributing to enhance the flood risk.

Environmentalists maintain that no mitigation plan will remain effective in the long term, unless supported by a prudent land use policy that strictly regulates human activity not only in the flood plans but also in the uphill catchment areas of rivers. Largescale deforestation, unrestrained mining, encroachments and unauthorized construction in ecologically fragile hills have added to the flood risk in downstream areas.

These unregulated activities destabilize strata, make hills prone to landslides and accelerate erosion. The debris brought down by landslides choke the rivers and the accumulated silt reduces their carrying capacity.Even reservoirs are being silted up.

The reports of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) and M.S.Swaminathan can serve as guideline for preparing location specific flood risk mitigation plans. Headed by Madhav Gadgil, the WGEEP made detailed recommendations to regulate activities of different sectors to conserve various regions of Western Ghat based on ecological sensitivity. Eminent agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan outlined a Flood Code spelling out actions to be taken to make up the loss caused by floods. It will enable the states to make advance preparation for growing alternative crops on land that gets submerged during monsoon once the flood recedes.

In mountainous terrain, vertical cutting of fragile hill strata for construction of roads should be avoided as far as possible and debris should not be dumped on slopes. Further, cross drainage must bebuilt simultaneously to ensure that natural flow channels are not blocked.

Bio engineering techniques, in which a combination of natural building materials and plant materials are used to treat unstable slopes and riverbanks, provide effective and environment-friendly ways to reduce risk.Desilting of stretches of river and drainage channels,where the free flow of floodwateris being impeded,can also help.

The much-debated interlinking project under which country’s major riversare to be linked by a network of reservoirs and canals can also help reduce both flood risk and water shortage. Water will be diverted from flood prone river basins to areas facing perennial scarcity of water.

The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has prepared reports on 14 projects for the Himalayan region, 16 projects for the peninsular India and 36 intra-State river interlinking projects. However, experts are divided over the cost effectiveness of the projects and the environmental fallout of inter river-basin transfer of water. Not much headway has been made on these projects.



		EDITOR'S MAIL EDITOR'S COMMENT INDIAN ECONOMY FRANKLY SPEAKING INDIA’S KASHMIR POLICY INDIA’S PAK POLICY REALPOLITIK PM’S I-DAY ADDRESS NATURE’S FURY LYNCHING WEST BENGAL POLITICS CHANDIGARH DIARY HIMACHAL SCENE PUNJAB SCENE HITS & MISSES AFGHAN SCENE AMERICA WATCH TRENDS IN TERRORISM BOOK BAZAAR BOOK BAZAAR SIGNS OF THE TIMES MAN VS WILD PUNJAB’S PRIDE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PIPE TOBACCO ART OF LIVING Issue:June' 2019 Subscribe Now	NATURE’S FURY Endless cycle of drought and deluge Rakesh Lohumi An aerial view of the flood-affected areas in Belagavi, Karnataka, on August 11. With large tracts in the country reeling under floods caused by e x c e s s i v e rains,the country is experiencing yet another erratic monsoon. After a delayed arrival and sluggish movement in the first half of the season,it unleashed its fury with more severity and over a larger area. Some parts in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka received 5 to 20 times higher than the long-term average of the day. Mysuru, Baroda, Pune, and Kolhapur were among the cities, which had record precipitation. Apart from highly flood-prone states like Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, there has been widespread inundation in many other states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. In hill states like Uttrakhand and Himachal flashfloods and landslides are wreaking havoc. The monsoon seems to be getting more destructive with each passing year. Floods are common during the rainy season. However, in recent years the frequency of floods has been increasing with storm surges sweeping through major cities like Mumbai, Gurgaon and Chennai.Out of the country’s total geographical area of 329 million hectare,over 12 per cent, around 40 to 45 million hectare is prone to floods. A view of a flooded area following in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. Muzaffapur, Bihar ,received 195 per cent surplus rainfall between July 11 and 17 this year A view of a flood-affected Malappuram, Kerala Until recently, the damage was minimal as people s c r u p u l o u s l y avoided raising settlements on the flood plains. With almost 60 per cent of the arable land still lacking assured irrigation, the r a i n - b e a r i n g southwest winds were seen as the harbinger of e c o n o m i c prosperity. Reeling under a s c o r c h i n g summer, people of the waterstressed mainland anxiously await the arrival of monsoon, which accounts for over 70 per cent of the country’s annual precipitation. However, the rapidly increasing population has changed the situation and the monsoon is no longer an “unmixed” blessing. Human activity has spread all over, including flood zones and steep hills, which are prone to landslides, increasing the destructive potential of heavy rains and floods manifold.The important weather phenomenon on which the country’s economy hinges is becoming increasingly erratic. Uncertainty over its arrival, withdrawal and its irregular movement keeps farmers on tenterhooks. For large parts of the country the onset of monsoon merely signifies a transition from drought to deluge. The rainfall is uneven due to wide variations in precipitation caused by climate change.While some areas get pounded by incessant heavy rains for weeks together, leading to devastating floods, others continue to reel under severe drought. Vehicles moving through a water-logged road after heavy rains in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Frequent instances of high intensity downpours that cause extensive damage to life and property along with long dry spells have become common during the four-month (June to September) period. The monsoon invariably leaves behind a trail of misery and destruction, which is getting wider and longer by the year. Last year the monsoon arrived on May 29, two days earlier than the normal onset date of 1st June.This year it was delayed by more than a week and hit the coastal belt of Kerala, the first state to receive monsoon rains, on June 8. Apart from climate change, a consequence of global warming,unregulated and excessive anthropogenic activities are enhancing the destructive potential of the seasonal rains. Environmentalists have been asserting for long that climate change being caused due to global warming will lead to frequent extreme weather events like drought, floods and other hydrological phenomena. They have been underlining the need for taking effective preventive measures, failing which the Mother Nature will make humans pay a huge price. The government has been making piecemeal efforts, mainly raising physical structures like dams and embankments to control floods. Of late, advancements in technology have enabled more accurate forecasting of weatherrelated events and the deep penetration of communication network has made it possible to put early warning system in place. It is being used in some cyclone and flood-prone areas but such systems need to be installed in all the flood - prone areas across the country. The impact of climate change will be more pronounced in Asian countries like India, which have a high concertation of population and scant resources. As per the latest Global Climate Risk Index 2019 released at the Katowice summit held in Poland,South Asian countries are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change. While India is at the 14th place, Sri Lanka (2), Nepal (4) and Bangladesh(9) figure among the top ten most vulnerable countries. These regions will have to cope with ever increasing number of climate-driven events like severe cyclones, intensive and excessive rainfall and devastating floods. Damaged cars after a landslide at Puthumala , Wayanad, Kerala Floods are already taking a heavy toll and on average every year over 1600 people and 92,000 heads of cattle perish and around 8 million hectare of land gets affected. As per the information provided by the Central Water Commission to the Rajya Sabha last year, between1953 and 2017 as many as 107,487 people lost their lives due to heavy rains and floods across India.The loss on account of damage to crops, private and public property, was pegged at Rs 365,860 crore. While the main reason of floods has been high intensity rainfall over short duration, a climate driven phenomenon, which is occurring more frequently with the ongoing climate change. However, the massive damage being caused on the ground is more due to man-made factors like haphazard and intensive urbanization, disruption of natural drainage, unplanned reservoir regulation, encroachments on river banks and largescale deforestation. So far, the government has been making piecemeal efforts, mainly raising physical structures like dams and embankments to control floods. Of late, advancements in technology have enabled more accurate forecasting of weather-related events and the deep penetration of communication network has made it possible to put early warning system in place. It is being used in some cyclone and flood-prone areas but such systems need to be installed in all the flood -prone areas across the country. Despite all the measures, floods are taking a heavy toll of life and property. Failure of flood control structures and unplanned release of water from reservoirs aggravates the problem. Embankments are overtopped during heavy rains and the surge water inundates the protected areas.The multipurpose dams built to store water for meeting the requirement during subsequent rain-deficit periods are often almost full midway during the season. In the event of a high intensity or a prolonged spell of rain, which is quite often, the authorities are forced to release water onlyto worsen the flood situation. Damson major rivers like Satluj, Beas, Mahanadi, Godavari and Damodar have considerably reduced the intensity and incidence of floods in downstream areas but the problem remains. Environmentalists maintain that no mitigation plan will remain effective in the long term, unless supported by a prudent land use policy that strictly regulates human activity not only in the flood plains but also in the uphill catchment areas of rivers. Largescale deforestation, unrestrained mining, encroachments and unauthorized construction in ecologically fragile hills have added to the flood risk in downstream areas. The destructive fallout of extreme weather-related events can be mitigated by taking appropriate short-term and longterm preventive measures and adopting an environment-friendly development policy to check any further degradation. A location specific integrated approach that combines both structural and non-structural measures can prove to be effective. A comprehensive flood plan management plan that delineates the measures required to deal with the existing flood risk and provides a blueprint for undertaking future development in such areas is the key to risk mitigation. Haphazard development can disrupt natural flows and change the flood behaviour, the depth and speed of water, which makes it hazardous for life and property. Embankments, roads, rail tracks and other projects can also change the course of flow and increase the risk.Adequate number of culverts has to be provided on roads and rail lines running across the direction of the flow of floodwater and canals should pass through aqueducts in flood- affected areas to ensure that surge flow is not obstructed.No major development should be allowed in highly flood-prone areas and all possible efforts should be made to restore natural drainage in the existing areas. The flood hazard is also enhanced by unplanned urbanisation, which makes large stretches of land impervious. It reduces ground absorption and increases surface run-off. Inadequate drainage in urban areas also leads to flooding in major cities like Gurgaon, Bhuvneshwar and Mumbai. The large scale felling of roadside trees for widening and upgrading of highways is also contributing to enhance the flood risk. Environmentalists maintain that no mitigation plan will remain effective in the long term, unless supported by a prudent land use policy that strictly regulates human activity not only in the flood plans but also in the uphill catchment areas of rivers. Largescale deforestation, unrestrained mining, encroachments and unauthorized construction in ecologically fragile hills have added to the flood risk in downstream areas. These unregulated activities destabilize strata, make hills prone to landslides and accelerate erosion. The debris brought down by landslides choke the rivers and the accumulated silt reduces their carrying capacity.Even reservoirs are being silted up. The reports of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) and M.S.Swaminathan can serve as guideline for preparing location specific flood risk mitigation plans. Headed by Madhav Gadgil, the WGEEP made detailed recommendations to regulate activities of different sectors to conserve various regions of Western Ghat based on ecological sensitivity. Eminent agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan outlined a Flood Code spelling out actions to be taken to make up the loss caused by floods. It will enable the states to make advance preparation for growing alternative crops on land that gets submerged during monsoon once the flood recedes. In mountainous terrain, vertical cutting of fragile hill strata for construction of roads should be avoided as far as possible and debris should not be dumped on slopes. Further, cross drainage must bebuilt simultaneously to ensure that natural flow channels are not blocked. Bio engineering techniques, in which a combination of natural building materials and plant materials are used to treat unstable slopes and riverbanks, provide effective and environment-friendly ways to reduce risk.Desilting of stretches of river and drainage channels,where the free flow of floodwateris being impeded,can also help. The much-debated interlinking project under which country’s major riversare to be linked by a network of reservoirs and canals can also help reduce both flood risk and water shortage. Water will be diverted from flood prone river basins to areas facing perennial scarcity of water. The National Water Development Agency (NWDA) has prepared reports on 14 projects for the Himalayan region, 16 projects for the peninsular India and 36 intra-State river interlinking projects. However, experts are divided over the cost effectiveness of the projects and the environmental fallout of inter river-basin transfer of water. Not much headway has been made on these projects.