How to avoid Flood Disaster
How to avoid Flood Disaster
Mains Examination: General Studies Paper 3
(Flood Disaster)
July 24, 2023
In News:
- In recent days, India, China, America, Britain to Spain are in trouble due to floods due to heavy rains.
Flood Disaster:
- Flood disaster is probably one of the most dangerous natural disasters in the world due to its high frequency, prevalence and devastating effects.
- Abnormal river level/high level at which the river overflows its banks (mouths) and submerges the surrounding areas is defined as “Flood”. Unpredictable level of water in which water comes out above the banks of the river or dams, submerging a large area and causing huge loss of life and wealth is called flood calamity/disaster. Due to floods, the flat areas around the river get submerged and affect the agriculture, livestock and houses etc., causing loss of life and property. In fact, the reason for the damage is the progressive rise in the water level, the topography of the river plains, the condition of urbanization or the construction of agricultural land and houses in the former course of the river flow is the cause of the flood disaster.
Flood Affected Areas:
- India is one of the most flood affected countries in the world. After Bangladesh, India is the most prone to floods, with about 1/8th of the total geographical area i.e. about 40 million hectares affected by floods.
- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Orissa and Gujarat are the major states in India which are most prone to floods. Some areas of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are in the grip of floods almost every year.
Impact of Flood Disaster:
- The major impacts of floods are directly on the livelihood of the people. Cultivable land is destroyed by soil erosion. So people have to be displaced. Flood has a special effect on the collective and community life of human beings. Due to floods, there is damage to the soil surface of the entire area and damage to people and property, migration of people is also a big problem. The communication system gets messed up. Floods have economic impact, loss in agriculture sector, loss of crop, drinking water problem and adverse effect on health.
Current scenario affected by Flood Disaster
- In India, the northern states of the country including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi have been particularly affected. In many districts of Himachal, it has rained equal to a month in a single day. Landslides are also happening at many places due to heavy rains. Many rivers including Ganga, Ravi, Chenab, Beas, Sutlej are in spate.
- On the other hand, the Hudson Valley of New York in America also got flooded due to heavy rains. Pennsylvania and southern New York State were also heavily affected.
- A few days ago there was a flash flood in the north-eastern city of Saragossa in Spain. Roads were submerged and cars were being swept away like toys. A severe summer storm caused flash floods in the city of Sheffield in northern Britain.
- Due to the growing climate crisis, many countries from Germany to Pakistan are facing severe floods.
Measures to prevent Flood Disaster:
- According to Lamia Messari-Baker, a civil engineering professor who works on sustainable building and design at Germany's University of Geigen, buildings must be constructed in such a way that they can withstand flood waters. This is also as important as earthquake-resistant design.
- Foundation depth, structural design and construction materials are specially chosen to make buildings flood resistant. It is being advised to make strong basements, so that water can fill it and people can get a chance to get out safely quickly.
- According to experts, focusing only on buildings will not solve the problem. There is also a need to think about controlling water by strengthening dams as well as reservoirs in cities and its surrounding areas, so that flood water can be prevented from reaching the basements of houses. These dams and reservoirs help in storing the water of sudden rains.
- The Ahr valley south of the German city of Bahn was completely devastated in the 2021 floods. The small rivers in the narrow valleys did not have much room for the water to spread, resulting in heavy flooding within a few hours of torrential rain. According to experts, there is a need to increase the area of canals and dams along with raising them to protect the cities from rising water levels in such places.
- • According to Boris Lehmann, professor of hydraulic engineering at Germany's University of Darmstadt, the current design of our water management and hydraulic engineering systems is not sufficient to protect infrastructure. Experts say that in these circumstances the best way is to allow the rivers to flow in their natural form as far as possible instead of controlling nature. Their direction should not be changed or their flow should be straightened. By doing this, the water gets accumulated during the flood situation and its quantity increases. Instead of restricting rivers, space should be made for flood plains. Due to this, when there is more water in the rivers, these flood plains act as reservoirs.
- • Flood plains along the banks of the Elbe River in eastern Germany were expanded following several devastating flood events in the early 2000s. Another solution is to build cities in such a way that water can spread over as many areas as possible and not collect in one place. A new model is being tried as an experiment in the German city of Leislingen, which is known as Sponge City.
- • The idea is to channel rainwater from roofs, intersections and roads into grass-lined drains along the road. The excess water is then allowed to flow naturally and added to the local groundwater. This will reduce the load on water management infrastructure. Also, large tanks will also be built to collect excess water and the water stored here will be used to irrigate the meadows in the city. Find ways to work accordingly.
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Mains Exam Question
What is flood disaster ? Suggest measures to deal with flood disaster.