Contents of Section 5: Reticular canal system for Interlinking Indian Rivers.Chapter 7-Facts and figures related to Floods in India.7.1-F&F – Floods by Brahmaputra river.7.2-F&F – Floods by Kosi river.7.3-F&F – Glacial lake outburst flood by Kosi river.7.4-F&F – 2008 Indian floods.7.5-F&F – Floods in India.7.6-F&F – Floods devastate India.7.7-F&F – Floods -Growing populations and infrastructure means that we are going to face more and more events of this nature.7.8-F&F –Flood water - This water will remain for some time. 7.9-F&F – Death due to floods.7.10-F&F –2005 Mumbai floods. 7.11-F&F – Flood prone areas in India.

Chapter 7. Facts and figures related to Floods in India:7.1 . F&F – Floods by Brahmaputra river.

[Brahmaputra River

Flooding

During the monsoon season (June-October), floods are a common occurrence. Deforestation in the Brahmaputra watershed has resulted in increased siltation levels, flash floods, and soil erosion in critical downstream habitat, such as the Kaziranga National Park.

Brahmaputra river seen from a Spot satellite.

Occasionally, massive flooding causes huge losses to crops, life and property. Periodic flooding is a natural phenomenon which is ecologically important because it helps maintain the lowland grasslands and associated wildlife. Periodic floods also deposit fresh alluvium replenishing the fertile soil of the Brahmaputra River Valley. Thus flooding, agriculture, and agricultural practices are closely connected. Source[34] ]All the water which come throught the flood will first feed the PC4 not at one point but at multiple points thus damage to the canal at one particular poin by the massive amount of water will not occur. And this filled water in the PC4 will flow or raise the level of water in further course of FPC4.

7.2 . F&F – Floods by Kosi river.[Kosi river.

Floods by river Kosi.

The Kosi is known as the “Sorrow of Bihar”[14]when it flows from Nepal to India, as it has caused widespread human suffering in the past through flooding and very frequent changes in course.

Flooded north Bihar,India

The Koshi has an average water flow (discharge) of 1 564 m³/s or 55,000 cu ft/s. During floods, it increases to as much as 18 times the average. The greatest recorded flood was 24,200 m³/s (850,000 cu ft/s) on 24 August 1954. The Kosi Barrage has been designed for a peak flood of 27,014 m³/s (954,000 cu ft/s)(2).

Owing to extensive soil erosion and landslides in its upper catchment by factors both natural and human, the silt yield of the Kosi is about 19 m³/ha/year (10 cu yd /acre/yr), one of the highest in the world. (2). The Arun, with its origins in Tibet, brings the greatest amount of coarse silt in proportion to its total sediment load. The river is able to transport its heavy sediment load down the steep gradients and narrow gorges in the mountains and foothills, but on the plains beyond Chatra where slopes are flatter the sediment load is deposited in an immense alluvial fan that has grown to an area of about 15 000 km². This fan extends some 180 km from its apex where it leaves the foothills, across the international border into Bihar state and on to the Ganges. Instead of a single well-defined channel, the river has numerous interlacing channels that shift laterally over the fan from

time to time. Without sufficient channelisation, floods spread out very widely. The record flow of 24 200 m³/s is equivalent to water a meter deep and more than 24 kilometers wide, flowing down the slight slope of the alluvial fan at one meter per second.

The Kosi's alluvial fan has fertile soil and abundant groundwater in a part of the world where agricultural land is in acutely limited supply in relation to population. Subsistence farmers must balance the threat of starvation with that of floods. As a result, the flood-prone area is densely populated and subject to heavy loss of life. Floods have caused the Kosi to be called the “River of Sorrow”. It contributes disproportionately to India having more deaths in floods than any other country except Bangladesh.

2008 flood in Bihar

Main article: 2008_Bihar_flood

On 18 August 2008, the Kosi river picked up an old channel it had abandoned over 100 years ago near the border with Nepal and India. Approximately 2.7 million people were reported affected as the river broke its embankment at Kusaha in Nepal, thus submerging several districts of Nepal and India. 95% of total flow of the Koshi was reported flowing through the new course. The worst affected districts included Supaul, Araria, Saharsa,Madhepura, Purnia, Katihar, parts of Khagaria and northern parts of Bhagalpur, as well as adjoing regions of Nepal. Relief work was carried out with Indian Air Force helicopters by dropping relief materials from Purnia in the worst hit districts where nearly two million persons were trapped. It has not been possible to assess the magnitude of deaths or destruction, because the affected areas are totally inaccessible. 150 persons are reported to have been washed away in a single incident (Dainik Hindustan, Darbhanga edition). Another news item stated that 42 people had died in the flood in Bihar.

The Government of Bihar has constituted a technical committee, headed by a retired engineer-in-chief of the water resource department to supervise the restoration work and closure of the breach in the East Kosi afflux embankment.[17] Indian authorities were working to prevent further widening of the breach and channels would be dug to direct the water back to the main river bed. [18]

The fury of the Kosi river left at least 2.5 million people marooned in eight districts of Bihar and inundated 650 km². The prime Minister of India declared it a national calamity. The Indian army and non-government organizations were operating the biggest flood rescue operation in India in more than 50 years. It is reported as the worst flood in the area in 50 years. Source [34] ]

FPC4 will act like an effective drainage system for the flood generated by the river Kosi. The excess water can be realeased in to the natural water pathway if the excess water is not possible to utilize all along the course FPC4. But this discharged water is not going to change their couse because limited / controlled water is released from a fixed gate at multiple points, unlike the natural flow where all the tributaries water merging with main kosi with high volume and with great force in different direction due to silt formation at some point leading to the change in the direction of flow.

7.3 . F&F – Glacial lake out burst flood by Kosi river.[Kosi river.

Glaciers, glacier lakes and GLOF

At present, in the Himalayan region, glaciers are melting and retreating resulting in formation of lakes insecurely dammed by ice or moraines. These dams are at risk of failing, causing a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) with flows as great as 10,000 cubic meters a second. Such floods are likely to destroy communication systems and various infrastructures like bridges roads, hydropower projects (directly or indirectly), foot trails, villages, fields and terraces, irrigation canals, and could cost hundreds or even thousands of lives. Such floods also transport huge amounts of sediment.

In the past two decades GLOF has become a topic of intense discussion within the development community in Nepal. Studies of the glaciers and glacier lakes were carried out in 1988 by a joint Sino-Nepalese team. In the Arun-Koshi river basin, there are 737 glaciers in Tibet and 229 glacier lakes, out of which 24 glacier lakes are potentially dangerous. Similarly, there are 45 glacier lakes in the Sun-Koshi basin, out of which 10 are potentially dangerous.

The Dig Tsho GLOF on 4 August 1985, completely destroyed the nearly completed Namche hydropower plant and also all the bridges, trails, cultivation fields, houses and livestock along its path to the confluence of the Dudh-Koshi and the Sun-Koshi rivers at a distance of 90 km (56 mi) from the Dig Tsho glacier. The Dig Tsho glacier is on the terminus of the Langmoche Glacier. This event brought into focus the seriousness of such events and the studies to assess the glaciers, glacier lakes and GLOF followed.

According to a Sino-Nepalese study, since the 1940s, there have been at least 10 cases of Glacier Lake outbursts within the basins investigated. Among them there have been five bursts in three glacier lakes of the Arun River Basin, and four in three glacier lakes of the Sun Koshi River Basin. Source[34]]

FPC4 can with stand the huge water generated by the GLOF and this water can be utilized for feeding the FPC4 itself and water can be distributed till the south end of the nation.

7.4 . F&F – 2008 Indian floods.[Floods: [2008 Indian floods: The 2008 Indian floods were a series of floods in various states of India during the 2008 monsoon season. The floods mostly affected the western regions of Maharashtra state and Andhra Pradesh as well as northern Bihar. In India, the monsoon season generally lasts from June to September. According to Ministry of Home Affairs (India)'s disaster management unit, countrywide death toll from floods in various state was 2,404 between July to September.Early mansoon: Earlier, during the start of the monsoon season, West Bengal and Orissa were hit with heavy rains, creating a flood-like situation in the two states. The monsoon killed 100 people, mostly in the country's east and north-east. In Andhra Pradesh alone, 42 people died in a matter of two days because of sudden, heavy rains.August flooding:

In august the Konkan region of Maharashtra experienced heavy monsoon rains, placing lives in jeopardy. Many inter-city trains between Mumbai and Pune were cancelled. Heavy waterlogging had been reported from Chiplun, Rajapur, Khed and Mahad in Maharashtra. On 10 August 2008, a major landslide caused extensive damage to a three-story building at the Sinhagad Technical Education Society's (STES) academic campus in Lonavla. A large number of passengers were reportedly stranded at various railway stations across western Maharashtra as Central Railways canceled many trains. Vehicular traffic on the Mumbai-Pune expressway was also affected due to heavy rainfall and was diverted.In Mumbai, heavy rains lashed the city and its suburbs, affecting traffic and disrupting rail services on the days of 10–11 August.In Andhra Pradesh 119 relief camps were set up in the state, most of them in the Guntur and Krishna districts. Hyderabad, Krishna district, and the East and West Godavari districts were the worst affected areas due to floods. The situation in Andhra Pradesh was more deadly as 53 people reportedly died due to floods. In Hyderabad alone 14 people were killed, when they were crushed by the collapsing roofs of their homes.Bihar:Main Article: 2008 Bihar flood:

Kosi river flood was the worst hit flood of India in 2008.The nexus of the Bihar flood is the Kosi River's immense alluvial fan, extending some 180 km from the river's exit from the Himalayas and foothills in Nepal, down to its confluence with the Ganges in Bihar. The laws of geology and physics cause rivers to course back and forth across such fans in ephemeral channels lasting decades at most, but for flood control reasons man-made embankments endeavored to contain the Koshi within a channel along its fan's western edge. On 18 August, heavy monsoon rains caused the river to break out of this channel. It started flowing through an old channel much further east, inundating cropland and towns and villages with 1.2 million inhabitants, mostly in Bihar.The chief minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar met India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek his help in dealing with the "catastrophe". The worst affected districts included Supaul, Madhepura, north Bhagalpur, Araria, Purnia (all by the Kosi) and West Champaran (by Gandak). Relief work was carried with Indian Air Force helicopters dropping relief materials in the worst hit districts.The district magistrate of Madhepura has ordered the inhabitants of the town of Madhepura to evacuate because the water level continued to rise. Relief work was carried with Indian Air Force helicopters dropping relief materials (including 600 food packets per day) from Purnia in the worst

hit districts where nearly two million persons were entrapped. [9] It is not possible to assess the magnitude of deaths or destruction, because the affected areas are totally inaccessible. Even mobile phones had stopped working, because entrapped persons cannot get their batteries charged. 150 persons were washed away in a single incident (Dainik Hindustan, Darbhanga edition). Another report says 42 people have died in the flood in Bihar.The Government of Bihar has constituted a technical committee, headed by retired engineer-in-chief of the water resource department, Nilendu Sanyal, to manage the restoration work and closure of the breach in the East Koshi afflux embankment.[11] Indian authorities were working to prevent further widening of the breach and channels would be dug to direct the water back to the main river bed.[12] However, Dainik Hindustan (Darbhanga edition) reported on Aug 28 that Indian officials were chased away by anti-social elements from the breach site in Nepal. Nepal's Defence Minister has made a statement that Nepal will repair the breach on its own, although it was not made clear when this work will be started.Dainik Hindustan (Darbhanga edition) later sent its reporter to the site of the Kushaha breach, who reported with photographs on Sep 5 that all earlier claims by government officials of repairing the breach and of Nepalis chasing away Indian officials were utterly false reports by Indian officials, because there were thick forests on the embankment and it was not possible to reach the site before the end of August. Forest on the embankment proves that these parts of Kosi embankments were not even visited for decades. Its maintenance was the responsibility of Indian, especially Bihar's officials. The life of these embankments elapsed over two decades ago, but no effort was taken to even survey their conditions, although the Bihar government spends huge sums on the maintenance of embankments each year.Nilendu Sanyal made statements that desilting of riverbed will cost Rs 1500 millions annually, hence heightening the embankments is the only economical alternative. He was head of the department which neglected these embankments for decades, and he is making false statements even before visiting the site. Land within the embankments is now 10–15 feet higher than the land outside, and further heightening of embankments will make the Kosi more dangerous. The flood mafia of Bihar thrives on breaches of embankments and is deliberately making policies to this end. Nilendu Sanyal should have been booked under law for his past misdeeds, but has been entrusted with taking care of the Kosi.A high-level Government of Nepal team that inspected areas devastated by the flood in the Koshi River has held India responsible for the havoc. Media reports stated - ‘The devastation took place as the Indian side did not carry out repair and maintenance work on the Kosi barrage and the embankment along the river, thereby violating the Nepal-India Koshi agreement’. As per the bilateral agreement of 1954 India is entirely responsible for repair and maintenance work and operation of the barrage. There was no effort by Indian officials to repair the breach in time, although the Kosi took 15 days to make the breach.On the other hand, Indian engineers say that anti-social elements in Nepal did not allow them to repair the embankment (Dainik Hindustan, Darbhanga edition, Aug 28). These so-called "anti-social" elements are the victims of the Kosi embankments who have been forced to bear tsunami-like floods every year; they are happy that the river wants to change its course. Kosi embankments are designed to contain the Kosi in the channel of the Tilyuga River, while the old course of the Kosi lies far to the east in Purnia district. Later, Dainik Hindustan reported on Sep 5 that Indian officials could not reach the site of breach as there were forests on the embankment which were cleared in early

September, hence Indian officials were lying about being prevented to repair the breach: they had not visited the site for decades due to forests in the way.The New York Times reported that it is the worst flood in the area in 50 years, prompting Manmohan Singh to declare a “national calamity” on 28 August. The government earmarked US$230 million in aid for the region. The Indian army and non-governmental organizations operated the biggest flood rescue operation in India in more than 50 years. Death tolls rose from Indian floods as more than 65 people had been killed in monsoon rains. Villagers ate raw rice and flour mixed with polluted water in Bihar, amid hunger and diseases. Supaul district was the worst-hit by floods and surging waters swamped 1,000 square kilometres (247,000 acres) of farmlands, destroying wheat and paddy crops.September flooding:In September, even as the Bihar floods had not receded completely, the north-eastern state of Assam faced floods with rising waters from the Brahmaputra River. Kaziranga National Park, which has the highest density of rhinos in the world, was 90% submerged in water. Also, Pobitra national park in Assam was flooded. Two rhinos have died in these floods. A tiger has killed one rhino calf. In addition, four deer and one elephant have also failed to survive. The flood situation has affected estimated 2.1 million people and caused 24 deaths so far. Worst affected districts are Dhubri, Jorhat, Kamrup, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji and Morigaon. Thousands of people are staying in makeshift shelters with the government providing food and other essentials to the displaced people, besides healthcare facilities.[21] Indian officials say that the flooding situation could cause an epidemic, because refugees are consuming unclean water and food in shelters.Breaches in embankments have caused these floods in Assam. Four embankments on the Puthimari River, one constructed just three months ago, were breached causing the calamity. [23] Waters have breached embankments at total 54 vital locations,[21] and water levels are dangerously high in about 10 points.The Irish government is sending €350,000 (Rs. 22.3 million) in aid to the victims of the floods.Eastern Orissa state and most populous northern state Uttar Pradesh were flooded heavily causing more than 150 deaths from September 19 to September 22. [25] Army has reached in UP to rescue at least a quarter million people and food packets have been supplied to the rescued. Source [38] ]

RCS will act like better drainage system for the flood water and this water generated by the flood in one area will be distributed to the areas which are draught affected.The Houses created at the Model village will be good in quality and the place for the MV is selected in such a way that they are away from water paths which may be dry or flowing, distance and level both are considered in this aspect.CRS – CRTS are created in a better way after assessing the maximum flow of all the water paths. They are not created along the water paths but intersect it with better and higher bridges.Damages to the houses in the model village will not going to happen because it is constructed well, and the inter building bridges will prevent the fall of individual buildings. All the residences in the MV will be in the first floor or its onwards. Ground floor is for waiting – parking – maintenance office - park. Many small tributaries and the streams will be draining in to the PC may not the main river it self thus big water at one place will not be there. People need not evacuate the village if they are in the MV because MV will not be affected by it – the place for MV is choosen like that. Well laden cables in a scintifially constructed channels in a dedicated space will not be affected by the wind or water. People are made to stay in the MV but not in the hamlets or satellite villages of their choice and where ever they want.

Declaring some flood as the national calamity and spending lot of money on rehabilitating the people affected will not prevent the flood to recur, permanent creations like RCS will give solutions both for flood and drought with this increased population and people living very close to water pathways even if they know that area is flood and drought prone. People living in flood and draught prone area is a marker of poverty since they do not have any other property or the profession they are forced to stay at that place taking risk and some time this may cost their life or their family. Preventing flood and drought is always better than treating flood and drought with money. High flow and embankment which one wins depends on the force and the strength. It is easy to break individual stiks but not the stiks in groups, it is better to target the smaller tributaries and strams rather before they become huge body of water and distribute them in the same way like small discharges of water at multiple sites and all thse are connected by a channel again for collection and redistribution. RCS will work in this way.

7.5 . F&F – Floods in India.[Floods in India

The rapid and durable recovery which does not reproduce the original vulnerable conditions, the country receive an annual precipitation of 400 million - hectare meters. Of the annual rainfall, 75% is received during four months of monsoon (June- September) and, as a result, almost all the rivers carry heavy discharge during this period. The flood hazard is compounded by the problems of sediment deposition, drainage congestion and synchronization of river floods with sea tides in the coastal plains. The area vulnerable to floods is 40 million hectares and the average area affected by floods annually is about 8 million hectares. The average annual total damage to crops houses public utilities during the period 1953- 1995 was about Rs.9720 million. Source [39] ]

Floods can be effectively controlled with RCS and this food water can be safely distributed to all the needy places for future use through RCS. Sediments deposition will occur in the canals of RCS that can be easily remeoved and can be reutilized as manure for the lands. All the VPA can remove the silt depeosited in the RCS of their VPA limit and will use it as manure for their land and thus the load on the artificala menures and the side effects from it can be prevented to certain extent. The drainage congetion will never occur because RCS collects the water the initaial part of the water pathways and the water in the canals will be distributed at multiple points all along its course. Synchronization of river floods with sea tides in the coastal plains will not occur because the the flood water is not going to enter the sea directly, but it may enter the sea only when it more

than the demand of all the lands of the India, and this water will not enter the sea at one point and not at one time.

7.6 . F&F – Floods devastate India.[FloodsFloods devastate India, millions displaced from homesSeptember 25, 2008Floodwaters have displaced millions of people in India, including the states of Bihar, Assam, and Orissa.Floods have claimed the lives of nearly 2,500 people in India since the onset of monsoon rains in June, according to news reports.The worst flooding in 50 years has left an estimated 4.7 million people homeless in Bihar.

Over 200 people in Bihar have been killed after a rain-swollen river broke through a dam in neighboring Nepal. The river shifted east nearly 75 miles and overwhelmed many villages, destroying approximately 250,000 acres of farmland. Drinking water is scarce and hundreds of thousands of people have taken shelter in government relief camps. Families are being forced to scavenge for food.Our ministry partners in the area report that at least 25 Adult Literacy centers and 14 Children's Bible Clubs have been closed due to the flooding. Three ministry staff members lost their homes and belongings to the floods.Bihar is one of India's poorest and most undeveloped states. Nearly 83 million people live in Bihar, the majority in rural villages. Just 10% of households in Bihar have access to electricity. Two-thirds of women in Bihar can't read or write and the official literacy rate in Bihar is just 47%. Only 0.1% of people in Bihar are followers of Jesus.In Orissa, floodwaters impacted as many as 1,800 villages and killed an estimated 60 people. The heavy rains and flooding only magnified uncertainty in an already troubled region where Hindus

have mounted a six-week campaign of violence against Christians. Some 2.4 million people have been displaced by the floods.Floods have also devastated the state of Assam, where at least 15 people have died since June and 1 million people have been displaced. The national newspaper The Hindu reports that recent heavy rains have forced tens of thousands into government relief camps and makeshift shelters. At least 16 of the state's 27 districts have been affected.

Source [40] ]

With RCS – VPA – MV – MN we can control most of the flood and its effects on the people.

7.7 . F&F – Floods -Growing populations and infrastructure means that we are going to face more and more events of this nature.['Bihar floods, Gustav reminders of climate change' ReutersPosted: Sep 02, 2008 at 0908 hrs ISTIndia, three million people have been displaced from their homes and at least 90 killed by floods in India's eastern state of Bihar, officials say, after the Kosi river burst a dam in Nepal. The floods are the worst in Bihar in 50 years. In addition to the human suffering "we have an economic escalation from damage from natural disasters," Steiner said. Growing populations and infrastructure means that we are going to face more and more events of this nature," Steiner said. Source [41] ]

Identify all the flood prone areas and identy the area which are not going to affected by the flood in the near by areas and create model villages in the safe place will prevent the damage to the people and the property even though the RCS is going to prevent the flood to the maximum extent possible. It is also needed to prevent the population explosion inorder to avoid the people occupying the flood prone areas for their livelihood.

7.8 . F&F –Flood water - This water will remain for some time.

[Floods

A flood-damaged railway track at Saharsa village in India's eastern state of Bihar on Friday. (Krishna Murari/Reuters) Floods in India may displace millions

NEW DELHI: Millions of destitute farmers and their families may be displaced for months after severe floods in northern India wiped out crops and homes, leaving hundreds of villages under several feet of water.The Kosi river in Bihar, one of India's poorest and most populous states, jumped its banks earlier this week after a dam burst in bordering Nepal, causing the worst floods in the area in 50 years.Rescue efforts continued Friday and motor boats and trains were dispatched to find and move the estimated 2 million people who have been left stranded by the rising waters. These evacuees may not be able to return to their homes, if these homes still exist, until autumn, state government officials said."This water will remain for some time," said Devi Rajak, the chief engineer for Bihar's water resource department. "It may start decreasing in September depending upon upstream discharge," he said.The breach in the dam that caused the flooding is almost two miles inside Nepalese territory, he said, and therefore difficult to access and fix."We are facing labor problems, law and order problems, and logistics problems," he said.About a quarter of a million homes in India have already been destroyed by the floods, Indian officials say, and 250,000 people had been evacuated as of Friday. The official death toll from the flooding was set at 12 by the Bihar government, but aid workers and people in the area say that number is low, in part because access to the area to assess the damage is limited."This whole area is under three or four feet of water," said Rajiv Kumar Singh, 36, from Singheshwar village in the flooded Madhepura district of Bihar, in a telephone interview. People have been living either on the road side, in government offices, or in schools for days, he said."Now some diseases are spreading like fever, cough and diarrhea," Singh said. "There is only one doctor here and he cannot cater to all the people," he said.Some people have been washed away as their families watched, he said. "We are helpless," he said.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared the situation a "national calamity" on Thursday and said the government has earmarked (about $230 million in aid for the region.Water continued to flow into new areas on Friday, and an additional 400 military boats were dispatched to pick up survivors, nearly doubling the number of boats in service. Special "relief trains" full of supplies were being dispatched from New Delhi to assist and transport evacuees. The situation is expected to worsen over the weekend with meteorologists predicting heavy rains in the region.

Source [42] ]

All the excess water will flow in RCS and will be distributed all over the nation even when there is excessive rain in one river basin. And with CRS – CRTS roads and railway tracks like will not be constructed but they are constructed only aftere assessing all the possibilities like floods, land sides and so on.

RCS will effectively control the flood even if the system breaks down. We can just close the proximal and the distal gates along the course of the RCS and make the level of the water to diecrease all along the course of the PC by opening all the gates which drain water to the lower areas. Since this type of drain occurs at multiple points all along the canal there is no overload of water or flood like situation at one point. And also we are not going to construct big dams / reservoirs in RCS. We may be constructiong river elevators – bi dam – canal elevators – U tubes, in which there will be very minimal or no back water will be present, the only river elevator with more water bhind it in the entire RCS system will be the ‘Ganga River elevator’ this we have construct in a strong manner.

7.9 . F&F – Death due to floods.[LUCKNOW, India — Heavy rains and flooding have killed 10 more people in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh over the last 24 hours taking the death toll there to 45, a top government official said Saturday. Nearly 100 school children were stuck on a roof, and, in the south, 31 died from flash floods.Parts of Nandyal town in Kurnool district, 175 miles south of Hyderabad (search), were submerged in up to 4 feet of water and nearly 100 school children were stranded on the roof of their school building, the chief minister said.The worst affected area was the Kurnool district where 21 people have died, the state Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy told reporters before leaving for an aerial survey of the region.The other deaths occurred in Prakasham, Guntur and Krishna districts, Reddy said.The deaths were caused when flash floods destroyed homes and swept people away, he added.Source [43] ]

RCS will act like the very good drain in such instances and will prevent such damages and will carry this needy water to the places of drought.

7.10 . F&F –2005 Mumbai floods.

[The Maharashtra floods of 2005

(Redirected from 2005 Maharashtra floods)2005 Mumbai floods:Date of occurrence: 26th July 2005.Place: Mumbai, maharastra, India.Casualties: 405.

The Maharashtra floods of 2005 refers to the flooding of many parts of the Indian state of Maharashtra including large areas of the metropolis Mumbai, a city located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, on the western coast of India, in which at least 1,000 people died. It occurred just one month after similar flooding in Gujarat.

The floods were caused by the eighth heaviest ever recorded 24-hour rainfall figure of 994 mm (39.1 inches) which lashed the metropolis on 26 July 2005, and intermittently continued for the next day. 644 mm (25.4 inches) was received within the 12-hr period between 8am and 8pm. Torrential rainfall continued for the next week.

The highest 24-hour period in India was 1,168 mm (46.0 inches) in Aminidivi in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep on 6 May 2004 although some reports suggest that it was a new Indian record. The previous record high rainfall in a 24-hour period for Mumbai was 575 mm (22.6 inches) in 1974.

Other places to be severely affected were Raigad, Chiplun, Ratnagiri and Kalyan in Maharashtra and the southern state of Goa.

The rains slackened between the 28 July and 30 July but picked up in intensity on July 31. The Maharashtra state government declared 27 and 28 as a state holiday for the affected regions. The government also ordered all schools in the affected areas to close on August 1 and August 2. Mumbai Police commissioner Anami Narayan Roy requested all residents to stay indoors as far as possible on July 31 after heavy rains disrupted the city once again, grounding all flights for the day.

Overview;

Thousands of schoolchildren were stranded due to flooding and could not reach home for up to 18 hours. The subsequent two days were declared as school and college holidays by the state government. The city region and the suburbs that make up the metropolis of Mumbai received 994 mm (39.1 inches).

Areas in Mumbai badly affected by the flooding;

The rains hit the state of Goa and parts of western Maharashtra on July 25. Adding to the chaos was the lack of public information. Radio stations and many television stations did not receive any weather warnings or alerts by the civic agencies. The Met department blamed it on the lack of sophisticated weather radars which would have given a 3 hour prior warning.

Threat to public health;

The rain water caused the sewage system to overflow and all water lines were contaminated. The Government ordered all housing societies to add chlorine to their water tanks while they decontaminate the water supply.

Thousands of animal carcasses floated in the flood waters, raising concerns about the possibility of disease.

Reports in the media warned of the threat of waterborne diseases, and hospitals and health centers geared up to distribute free medicines to check any outbreak.

On August 11, the state government declared an epidemic of leptospirosis in Mumbai and its outskirts, later clarifying that there was no such threat anywhere else in Maharashtra. 66 people died of fever suspected to be leptospirosis. 749 people were admitted with such fever, with 41 cases "unstable" and in an advanced stage of the disease. The BMC declared three zones - P South (Goregaon) ward, L ward (Kurla) and H East (Bandra-Kalina) - as critical areas for being "hygienically sensitive".

Topography;

India's western coast receives high rainfall due to the presence of the Western Ghats which lie at about 50 km (30 miles) from the coast. The hill range runs parallel to the Indian coast at an average altitude of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). Rain bearing clouds generally deposit much of their moisture through orographic rainfall along India's western coast which lies on the windward side of the hills.

Financial effect;

The financial cost of floods was unprecedented and these floods caused a stoppage of entire commercial, trading, and industrial activity for days. Preliminary indications indicate that the floods caused a direct loss of about Rs. 450 crores (€80 million or US$100 million). The financial impacts of the floods were manifested in a variety of ways:

The banking transactions across the counters were adversely affected and many branches and commercial establishments were unable to function from late evening of 26 July 2005. The state government declared the 27th (and later, 28th) of July as a public holiday. ATM networks of several banks, which included the State Bank of India, the nation's largest national bank; ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and several foreign banks like Citibank and HSBC, stopped functioning from the afternoon of 26 July 2005 at all the centers of Mumbai. ATM transactions could not be carried out in several parts of India on 26 July 2005 or 27 July 2005 due to failure of the connectivity with their central systems located in Mumbai.

The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India, the premier stock exchanges of India could function only partially. As most of the trading are eTrading, trading terminals of the brokerage houses across the country remained largely inoperative. Ironically, in partial trading, the Sensex, India's most tracked equity index closed at an all time high of 7605.03 on 27 July 2005. The Exchanges, however, remained closed for the following day.

Effect on Mumbai's links to the rest of the world;

For the first time ever, Mumbai's domestic and international airports (including Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Sahar and Juhu aerodrome) were shut for more than 30 hours due to heavy flooding of the runways and extremely poor visibility. Over 700 flights were cancelled or delayed. The airports reopened on the morning of 28 July 2005. Rediff. Within 24 hours of the airports becoming operational, there were 185 departures and 184 arrivals, including international flights.

Again from early morning of 31 July, with increase in water logging of the runways and different parts of Mumbai, most of the flights were indefinitely cancelled. Rail links were disrupted, and reports on late evening of 30 July indicated cancellation of several long distance trains up to 6 August, 2005. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which witnessed a number of landslides, was closed, for the first ever time, for 24 hours. According to the Hindustan Times, an unprecedented 5 million mobile and 2.3 million MTNL landline users were hit for over four hours. According to the .in registrar (personal communication), the .in DNS servers in Mumbai had to be reconfigured because the servers were not operational.

Transport stats;

52 local trains damaged 37,000 autorickshaws spoilt 4,000 taxis 900 BEST buses damaged 10,000 trucks and tempos grounded

Factors aggravating the disaster in Mumbai;

Antiquated drainage system;

The present storm-water drainage system in Mumbai was put in place in the early 20th century and is capable of carrying only 25 millimetres of water per hour which was extremely inadequate on a day when 994 mm of rain fell in the city. The drainage system is also clogged at several places.

Only 3 'outfalls' (ways out to the sea) are equipped with floodgates whereas the remaining 102 open directly into the sea. As a result, there is no way to stop the seawater from rushing into the drainage system during high tide.

In 1990, an ambitious plan was drawn to overhaul the city's storm water drainage system which had not been reviewed in over 50 years. A project costing approximately 600 crore rupees was proposed by UK based consultants hired by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to study the matter. Implementation of the project would have ensured that rainwater did not flood the streets of Mumbai. The project was planned to have completed by 2002 and aimed to enhance the drainage system through larger diameter storm water drains and pipes, using pumps wherever necessary and removing encroachments. The project, if implemented would have doubled the storm water carrying capacity to 50 mm per hour.

The BMC committee had rejected the proposed project on the grounds that it was "too costly".

Uncontrolled, unplanned development in Northern Suburbs;

Unlike South Mumbai, development in northern suburbs of Mumbai is haphazard and buildings are constructed without proper planning. The drainage plans in northern suburbs is chalked out as and when required in a particular area and not from an overall point of view.

The Environment Ministry of the Government of India was informed in the early 1990s that sanctioning the Bandra-Kurla complex (a commercial complex in northern Mumbai) was leading to disaster. No environment clearance is mandatory for large urban construction projects in northern Mumbai. Officials in the environment ministry claimed that it was not practical to impose new guidelines with retrospective effect "as there are millions of buildings".

Destruction of mangrove ecosystems;

Powai Lake, Mumbai on the verge of overflowing;Mangrove ecosystems which exist along the Mithi River and Mahim Creek are being destroyed and replaced with construction. Hundreds of acres of swamps in Mahim creek have been reclaimed and put to use for construction by builders. These ecosystems serve as a buffer between land and sea. It is estimated that Mumbai has lost about 40% of its mangroves between 1995 and 2005, some to builders and some to encroachment (slums). Sewage and garbage dumps have also destroyed mangroves. The Bandra-Kurla complex in particular was created by replacing such swamps. The most acclaimed Mindspace CBD (INORBIT MALL) in Goregaon & Malad has been built by destroying a large patch of Mangrooves. Source [44] ]

Floods like this damaging the cities and the people will not occur with the establishment of RCS – VPA – MV – MN, in which the people living in the areas of the drainage and water pathways will move to some VPA where they will get better income and life than the present life in ‘slums of the Bombay’. When there is clearance of residences at the drainage and water paths then there is easy flow of water to the sea without damaging the property and the people.In MV the children can go to the school with any amount of rain and flood because they will be reaching the school in the safe path through interbuliding brideges, so schools need not close during rainy and flood seasons.Sewage water mixing with the drinking water will not occur in MV – MN and the epidemics of infectious diseases will never occur with the MV - MN. Animals will have a safe house in MV – MN, so they are not going to die during rainy and flood season and thus they will not have impact on the health of the humans. All the houses will be well constructed in MV – MN in a safe place thus they are less likely to get the damage. Banks and all the offices can work normally and the staff can reach their offices safly through the interbuilding bridges. The electrical – telephone – other cables are laid in safe channels in which no damage is going to happen. Damages to the vehicles and property will be minimal because they will be parked at the designated safe place in the MV – MN. With the technology of CRS – CRTS the damages to the roads and the railway track are going to decrese.

7.11 . F&F – Flood prone areas in India.Flood prone areas are shown in blue.

Most of the floods can be avoided with RCS and the same water can be diverted to the drought prone areas.

Sources:[34] Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, answers.com, Wikipedia.[38] Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.[39]Internet: National Institute of disaster management, Ministry of home affairs, GOI.[40] Floods devastate India Mission India.mht.[41]India-Introduction\'Bihar floods, Gustav reminders of climate change' - Express India.mht.[42] Floods in India may displace millions - International Herald Tribune.mht.[43] FOX News com - Deadly Rains Plague North, South India; 76 Reported Dead So Far - International News. News of the World Middle East News Europe News.mht][44] The Maharashtra floods of 2005 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.mht.