State-of-the-art Flood Warning System for Mumbai Launched

Mumbai on Friday, June 12 gets Integrated Flood Warning System (IFWS) which will predict floods at least three days in advance, enabling more lives to be saved

 

The Video conference was jointly held by Union Earth Sciences Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, top officials of Centre and Maharashtra Government were also present.

 

Dr Harsh Vardhan said, “the scientists of MoES who developed the IFWS have proved that we are not less than anyone in the world in science”.

 

“Mumbai floods, especially in 2005 and 2017, are etched in everyone ”s memory. This highly advanced IFWS will help the people of the city in a big way,” Dr Harsh Vardhan added.

 

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray stated “the state of the art flood warning system developed by MoES is like a gift to the people of Mumbai”.

 

Uddhav Thackeray congratulated the MoES and IMD scientists for accurate prediction of Cyclone Nisarga and monsoon in the state. An early forecast of Cyclone Nisarga by IMD helped the state government in saving the state from a bigger disaster and loss of lives.

 

The Integrated Flood Warning System will help Mumbai to be more prepared by providing early predictions of at least 72 hours before, with 3-6 hours immediate weather updates flood warnings, especially during high rain and cyclones.

 

Dr M Rajeevan, Secretary, MoES said: “more than 160 observatories and 4 more radars which have been ordered for Mumbai will enable us to forecast rainfall with a precision of 500 metres and every 15 minutes”.

 

“We are happy that we could complete the development of iFlowsMumbai project in time”. He added

 

The iFlowsMumbai module uses rain gauge data and local data such as data on land use, land topography, drainage systems, water bodies in the city, tide levels, infrastructure and population, which has been provided by BMC. Using these as inputs, the prediction system models weather, rainfall, runoff and water movement, tide and storm surge impacts based on which early Flood Warnings for the city will be provided. It will address the flood inundation due to rainfall, river bank breach, storm surge, obstruction of flow due to roads, buildings, rail lines, high tides and sea-level rise.

 

This would help in evacuating people from low-lying areas as the forecast would be available in advance.