The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : ‘Well-planned approach for managing urban floods needed’

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Friday, Aug 29, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

‘Well-planned approach for managing urban floods needed’

HYDERABAD: Modern weather stations with rain gauges, ultrasonic depth gauges to measure flood-level data connected by Internet to the Disaster Management Authority providing precise information every 15 minutes are the hallmark of Mumbai’s urban flood disaster management and mitigation.

Early warning system was developed after the June 2005 floods that ravaged the financial capital. From two weather stations with rain gauges at Colaba and Santacruz, 35 were installed all over Mumbai, including five in fire stations, while 30 more were in the pipeline.

All these are manned round-the-clock, set to 15 minutes recording and display in real time and calibrated to give alarm at predefined values of rain intensity of 40 mm/hour, explained Kapil Gupta, professor in IIT Mumbai, during a presentation on Wednesday before Ministers, elected representatives and civic officials. The stations are built in batteries and not dependent on electric power and provide the lead time for alerts during floods.

Rainfall

Arguing for a well-planned approach for managing urban floods, he said cities were increasingly getting heavy rain in a short span of time. For instance, Mumbai had received 2,400 mm rain in four months, while London received less in a year. Similarly, rain in Hyderabad had increased from 800 mm to 840 mm over the last 15 years due to urban heating and run-off water due to massive development not giving scope for retention.

Mumbai has a State-level disaster management sub-committee and ward level panels headed by an Assistant Commissioner. A GIS-based stormwater drain management system and upgradation is being carried out there along with construction of pumping stations at various locations.

Flood rescue equipment like boats, water proof torches, suits, life jackets, etc. were procured while a full-fledged emergency operations centre is stocked with rations, water and modern communications. Prof. Gupta said Hyderabad too should go for detailed contour mapping, measuring local rainfall intensity, rain gauges, land use planning, providing inlets for draining away water every 10 metres on roads, etc.

Other than cleaning drains of sediments and garbage, porous pavements and compulsory rainwater harvesting structures for every building above 300 sq.mts was mooted.

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