iFLOWS - Mumbai : Flood Warning System

  i  FLOWS, a state-of-art Integrated Flood Warning System will help make Mumbai become more resilient, by providing early warning for flooding especially during high rainfall events and cyclones.

Developed by :

This system is developed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences using its in-house expertise, in close collaboration with the Municipality Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC).

How the Prediction System Works ?

• The system 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. 

• The prediction system models weather, rainfall, runoff and water movement, tide and storm surge impact 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.

Modular Structure of iFLOWS - Mumbai :

Data Assimilation ⇒ Flood Module  ⇒ Inundation Module ⇒ Vulnerability Module⇒ Risk Module ⇒ Dissemination Module

a. Data Assimilation Module : It gathers a variety of dynamic data including IMD weather forecasts and under-water depth of rivers and lakes across Mumbai city.

b. Inundation Module : It will use the data to forecast flood inundation 3 days in advance.

c. Flood Module : It will predict how the water will move across areas expected to be flooded.

d. Vulnerability Module and (e) Risk Module, which together comprises the Decision Support System, enables the administration to take smart decisions to manage the situation based on a scientific and holistic assessment of flooding riks.

f. Dissemination Module : It make Information available to field officials through various communication channels, enabling them to take prompt and informed field action.

Benefits :

• It will possible to have an estimate of the flood inundation 3 days in advance, along with 3 hours - 6 hours Nowcast (immediate weather updates).

• It will be very useful, especially if people need to be evacuated from low-lying areas as we will be able to forecast 12 hours in advance that a particular spot may get flooded. 

• The system will also forecast the rainfall in each pocket.

• Decision Support System will enable smart decision making and field action based on risk assessment.

Mumbai, the state capital of Maharashtra, a megapolis and financial capital of India has been facing floods with increased periodicity which brings the city to a standstill in spite of its natural storm water drainage systems.

References

Yojana

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