THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR JAL SHAKTI & SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RATTAN LAL KATARIA)
(a) Central Water Commission (CWC) is the nodal Organisation entrusted with the task of flood forecasting & early flood warnings in the country. Presently, CWC issues flood forecasts at total of 328 forecasting stations (190 river level forecast stations & 138 dam/ barrage inflow forecast stations). These stations cover 20 major river basins in 23 States & 2 Union Territories. As per flood forecasting network of CWC, during the last 3 years, in addition to existing flood prone states of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, extreme floods (water level above previous Highest Flood Level) were witnessed in the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan due to excess to large excess rainfall in these states combined with extremely heavy rainfall in short duration.
(b) Central Water Commission maintains the flood damage data of the country and as per the flood damage data compiled by CWC, maximum damage due to floods during the years 2017 to 2019 are in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka.
(c) & (d) Urban planning being a State subject, management of urban flooding and maintenance of drainage systems falls under the purview of the respective State/ UT govemments, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Urban Development Authorities. For the guidance of the State/ UT Governments, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has issued Urban and Regional Development Plans Formulation and
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Implementation (URDPFI) Guidelines, 2014 by integrating the guidelines on mitigation, prevention and preparedness for urban flooding issued by the National Disaster Management Authority. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has also issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Urban Flooding in 2017. The SOP lays down, in a comprehensive manner, the specific actions required to be undertaken by the ULBs, District Administration and the State Government. Further, the Ministry has published a Manual on Storm Water Drainage Systems, 2019 to provide guidance on sustainable design, planning& management of storm water drainage systems and emergency plan for flood response in urban areas. Above documents are in public domain and available on website of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
(e) & (f) Food management and anti-erosion schemes are planned, investigated and implemented by State Governments with their own resources as per their priority. The Union Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical guidance and promotional financial assistance for management of floods in critical areas. The Government of India has been making continuous efforts to assist the State Governments in effective flood management. As a part of structural measures, during XI Plan Government of India had launched Flood Management Programme (FMP) for providing Central Assistance to States for works related to river management, flood control, anti-erosion, drainage development, anti-sea erosion, etc. which continued during XII Plan and thereafter as a component of "Flood Management and Border Areas Programme" (FMBAP) for the period from 2017-18 to 2020-21.
A total of 522 flood management projects with an estimated cost of Rs.13238.36 crore were approved and included under FMP during XI and XII Plan. Since start of XI Plan, total Central Assistance released to States under FMP up till March, 2020 is Rs.6409.96 crore. Out of these 522 schemes, 415 schemes have been completed; 64 schemes foreclosed and shifted and 43 schemes are ongoing. These 415 completed schemes have given protection to an area of around 4.994 mha and protected a population of about 52.21 million.
Flood forecasting is considered as one of the most cost effective non-structural measure for flood management. The role played by CWC in this regard has already been elucidated under part (a).
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