Why floods threaten tens of millions in India every year

Flooding in Assam

Climate extremes have become more recurrent over the past few years and Southeast Asia, especially, has bore the brunt of these extreme weather events. From heat waves, flash floods to regular monsoon deluge, India's vulnerability to weather phenomenon has increased as is believed to increase further with global warming playing a critical role.

India is highly vulnerable to floods during monsoons. Of the 329 million hectares of land in the country, 46 million were prone to flooding. Floods devastated 5.04 million hectares of crop area in this monsoon till November 25, 2021. In the last three years, 6,811 people died due to meteorological disasters. India is continuously affected by floods and its average annual loss is estimated at Rs 5,649 crore.

In the backdrop of the deluge in Assam, Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday is expected to review preparedness to deal with floods that affect various parts of the country during the monsoon.

More than 3.90 lakh people continue to reel under floodwater in Assam as the overall situation remained grim, officials said on Saturday.

Every year, large areas of Bihar, Assam and other eastern states are inundated due to a rise in the water level of various rivers due to monsoon rains.

When India experiences extreme weather events

India experienced extreme weather events almost every day in the first nine months of 2023 which led to nearly 3,000 deaths, according to a report released on November 29. Published by the independent think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the report said the climate-vulnerable country had extreme weather on 86 per cent of days from January to September.

Lack of early warning systems

According to the report by independent policy research think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), an estimated 72 per cent of districts in India are exposed to extreme flood events but only 25 per cent of them have level flood forecasting stations, or early warning systems, a new report said on July 13. Despite high exposure to floods, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim are the best-performing states in terms of flood early warning systems (EWS).

The current crisis in Assam

According to media reports, currently, Assam is facing floods with around 3.90 lakh people affected in 19 districts, officials said. The death toll in this year's flood, landslides and storm in the has reached 37, while one person is missing, they said. Altogether 3,90,491 people remained affected in Kamrup, Tamulpur, Hailakandi, Udalguri, Hojai, Dhubri, Barpeta, Biswanath, Nalbari, Bongaigaon, Baksa, Karimganj, South Salmara, Goalpara, Darrang, Bajali, Nagaon, Cachar and Kamrup Metropolitan districts in Assam.

To mitigate the impacts of floods, government has launched many policies and programs to improve water security and build climate resilience – several with World Bank support.

This includes advances in technologies such as flood forecasting models, hydromet services and early warning systems, greater dam safety, and a national plan for disaster management. Even so, these measures, although laudable, are not proving to be adequate to address the scale of India’s water woes.

A paradigm shift in the way these climate extremes are managed altogether is needed. It is a complex problem that requires a multi-sectorial approach to reduce the risks and impacts.