Risk management plan in place to cope with floods, but there’s scope to do better

Soon after taking charge, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai took stock of the flood situation. At least 13 districts have been hit by floods over the past few weeks, making it the top priority for the new government.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Karnataka has faced floods. Last year, Karnataka declared 23 districts and 130 taluks as flood-hit.

The distribution of rainfall has become erratic in the past few years, a prominent reason for floods.

Floods in Krishna and Cauvery Basin of Karnataka is primarily due to riverine floods (outflows greater than the carrying capacity of the river).

Although not much has changed with overall rainfall, showers meant for over a month are now occurring in a few days, causing floods, Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) officials say.

KSDMA commissioner Manoj Rajan says the state was able to mitigate the crisis to a large extent this time as it was ready with the Karnataka State Action Plan for Flood Risk Management, 2021.

This plan provided information on river basin-wise vulnerable villages. A flood forecast cell was also constituted at Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) to regularly update information on inflow and outflow of reservoirs.

WhatsApp groups of all officials concerned were created for Almatti, Narayanapura, Bhima, Cauvery and Tungabhadra reservoirs ensuring good coordination, he says.

At present, 100 relief camps are operational in Belagavi, Bagalkot and Uttara Kannada, sheltering 48,995 people. The government has announced Rs 660 crore for flood relief works.

Not only have the floods affected crops and livelihood apart from causing several casualties over the last four years, it has also led to a huge financial drain on the state amid the pandemic.

Last year, Karnataka had pegged losses owing to floods at Rs 25,000 crore, while the estimated losses in 2019 were Rs 35,000 crore.

Although Karnataka has put in place several measures, they are inadequate to avert the annual crisis, experts say.

“The government has taken several measures over the last few years, but we can do way better,” environmentalist Vishwanath Srikantaiah says, emphasising on better interstate dialogue, coordination among officials managing various reservoirs and better data gathering.

“The KSNMDC has done a good job with the weather station in Bengaluru. This should be replicated across the state,” he says.

According to Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator, South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People, the flood forecasting system needs an overhaul.

At present, the Central Water Commission does flood forecasting. There has to be accountability for this data.

It should also be decentralised at the state level for regional accuracy. The rainfall forecast system, too, should be river basin-wise, instead of generic forecast for a region based on “heavy or moderate” rainfall, he adds, insisting on making all the data available to the public promptly.

According to Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan, who comes from a place that is prone to floods, the government is yet to desilt water bodies that got clogged after the 2018-19 floods.

“As a result, the river’s course has changed and runs into agricultural lands now,” he explains, highlighting poor follow-up of measures at the ground level. Admittedly, government officials too believe much more can be done.

An official involved in disaster management told DH that the government’s ‘early warning system’ needed improvement.

It also needs to increase the number of gauging stations and assess rainfall and water flow from upper to lower catchment areas.

A “flood plain zonation” has to be created, mapping a region to understand the impact in relation to the water released, the official says.