Government Steps to Control Floods and Droughts

Water is an essential resource for the survival of life and ecological balance, however, excess of it causes calamity and lack of it causes disaster. Excess water can cause floods and a deficit can cause drought. These are disastrous situations, caused by natural and anthropogenic factors. Floods and droughts are contrary situations though they have a common feature and their co-existence poses a potent threat, which cannot be eradicated but only managed. Some regions experience floods in one season and drought in another season.

A. Drought

Drought is the absence of water over a long period, in a place where it is considered abnormal as compared to its normal conditions. Drought is a complex phenomenon as it involves humidity, precipitation, evaporation, evapotranspiration, groundwater, soil moisture, surface water runoff, agricultural practices, socioeconomic conditions, government policies, and ecological conditions. Drought affects around 68 percent of India, with various degrees of severity and adversity. Areas that receive rainfall between 750 and 1125 mm are Drought-prone, whereas areas that receive less than 750 mm are Chronic drought-prone. Around 30 % of total geographical areas are identified as drought-prone areas.

Causes and Effects  of Droughts:

Major causes of droughts in India are precipitation deficiency, drying out of surface water flow, deforestation and soil degradation, global warming, human acts such as deforestation, excessive construction, and unsustainable agricultural practices. The effects of drought are widespread and have devastating effects on the environment, society, and economy. The effects are generally categorized as environmental, economic, social, and geopolitical. Migration and relocation, hunger and famine, crop failure, poverty, and life loss are some of the disastrous effects of droughts.

Classification of Droughts:

• Meteorological drought: It is a situation of a prolonged period of inadequate rainfall.
• Agriculture drought: Also known as soil moisture drought; due to low soil moisture crop failures takes place.
• Hydrological drought: When the availability of water in different storages and reservoirs such as aquifers, dams, and lakes; falls below what the precipitation can replenish.
• Ecological drought: When the productivity of the natural ecosystem diminishes due to water shortage which causes ecological distress and ecosystem damage.

B. Flood:  

A flood is an overflow of water that submerges the areas and causes loss of life, property, and economy. The flood can be a river water flood, dam bursting flood, cyclonic flood, oceanic storm flood, etc. In India, flood is mainly caused due to monsoon bursts in low-lying areas and mismanagement by humans. Flood in urban cities is mainly due to poor planning as per a UN report which causes a 3 % GDP loss every year. Flooding is a recurrent phenomenon and a high-risk vulnerability is being observed in India of the fact that around 40 million hectares out of 3290 lakh hectares are prone to floods, which is 12% of the total geographical area of the nation. The major flood areas in India are the Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin which accounts for nearly 60% of the total river flow of the country.

Factors responsible for floods:

• Meteorological Factors: Prolonged heavy rainfall which is usually common in the monsoon season, cloudburst, particularly in the Himalayan region, and tropical cyclones on the eastern coastline of India.
• Topological Factors: Relief, lack of drainage, saturated sub-soil, glacial lake outbursts, sediment deposition/Silting of river beds.
• Human Factors: Deforestation, Unscientific land utilization, bad farming practices, illogical construction, etc.

Consequences of Floods:

Floods take thousands of lives and loss of property every year, crops get adversely affected due to the loss of the agricultural season and fertile soil cover. Floods lead to the destruction of habitats and loss of animals, disruption of communication lines and essential services, loss of livelihoods and spread of water-borne and infectious diseases are other ill consequences of floods.

Steps were taken by the Govt of India to combat Desertification:

• Command Area Development (1974): Launched to improve the irrigation potential, and its utilization and to improve agricultural production through efficient water management under the Ministry of Water Resources.
• Integrated Watershed Management Programme (1989-90): It aims to replenish ecological balance by harnessing, restoring, and developing degraded natural resources with the help of Rural Employment. Named “Hariyali Guidelines” in 2003 later subsumed in Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (2015-16 to 2019-20).
• Desert Development Programme (1995): To minimize the adverse impact of drought and rejuvenate the natural resource base of the desert areas, implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development.
• National Afforestation Programme (2000): For the afforestation of degraded forest lands and increasing forest base, this programme was launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• National Action Programme to Combat Desertification (2001): It was launched to address issues of desertification and to take appropriate actions and implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• Fodder and Feed Development Scheme (2010): It aims to improve degraded grassland and vegetation cover of problematic soils like saline and acidic under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Diaries.
• National Mission on Green India (2014): It is a part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and its objective is to protect, restore and enhance India’s diminishing forest cover within a deadline of 10 years, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India (2016): It was prepared by ISRO to study Desertification and Land Degradation in India.

Steps were taken by the Govt of India to manage Floods:

• National Flood Management Programme(1954): In this program, structural and non-structural methods had been adopted depending on the nature of the problem, geographical conditions, and available resources.
• Rashtriya Barh Ayog (National Flood Commission)1976: Set up by the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation with the purpose to evolve an integrated and scientific approach to the flood control problems in the country and prepare a national plan to fix the priorities. The major recommendation of the commission includes flood plain zoning, regulating man-made activities, etc.
• National Commission for water resources (1999): It suggested that storage dams and embankments provide effective protection to flood-prone areas and an urgent need to enact the flood plain zoning Act.
• National water policy (2012): Formulated by the Ministry of Jal Shakti with the objective to take cognizance of the existing flood situation and to propose a plan of action from the national perspective. It suggested that through reservoir operation, the flood cushion can be set up to reduce the trapping of sediment during the flood season.
• National Hydrology Project (2016): It is a central sector scheme under the Ministry of Water Resources, RD & GR; with 50% of the outlay amount received from the World Bank loan. The project gathers hydro-meteorological data which will be stored and analyzed on a real-time basis and can be accessed by any user at the State, District, and Village level.
• Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP, 2017-20): The FMBAP Scheme is implemented throughout the country for effective flood management, and soil and anti-sea erosion. The catchment area treatment helps in the reduction of sedimentation load into rivers.
• Flood management by establishing Dams: Various large and small dams like Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Bhakra Dam across Sutlej, the Hirakud Dam on the Mahanadi, etc. are constructed to control flood.
• Flood management by Establishing a National Disaster Team: Various National disasters teams are formed to manage the approach of floods and excavate the people and take them to the shelter home where they are given food, water, and clothes until the situation comes under control.