IFLOWS-Mumbai: Flood Warning System

IFLOWS-Mumbai: Flood Warning System

In a bid to aid in the mitigation activities of the flood prone city, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Govt of Maharashtra approached the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) to develop an Integrated Flood Warning System for Mumbai referred to as, IFLOWS-Mumbai.

What is ‘IFLOWS-Mumbai’?

IFLOWS is a monitoring and flood warning system that will be able to relay alerts of possible flood-prone areas anywhere between six to 72 hours in advance.

The system can provide all information regarding possible flood-prone areas, likely height the floodwater could attain, location-wise problem areas across all 24 wards and calculate the vulnerability and risk of elements exposed to flood.

IFLOWS-Mumbai is developed as a state of art Integrated Flood Warning system for Mumbai to enhance the resilience of the city of Mumbai by providing early warning for flooding specially during high rainfall events and cyclones.

The IFLOWS-Mumbai comprises seven modules, namely data assimilation, flood, inundation, vulnerability, risk, dissemination and decision support system.

This will boost the city’s resilience by providing early warning for flooding specially during high rainfall events and cyclones. Bengaluru and Kolkata may also get such a system by 2021.

Working principle of IFLOWS-Mumbai

The primary source for the system is the amount of rainfall, but with Mumbai being a coastal city, the system also factors in tidal waves and storm tides for its flood assessments.

In the last two years, researchers have been conducting studies to provide real-time weather information by measuring the city’s rainfall, how much water drained out, topography, land use, infrastructure development, population, lakes, creeks and data on river bathymetry of all rivers namely Mithi, Dahisar, Oshiwara, Poisar and Ulhas.

Significance of IFLOWS-Mumbai

Urban flooding is common in the city from June to September, resulting in the crippling of traffic, railways and airlines.

As a preparedness for floods before they occur, the system will help in warning the citizens so that they can be prepared in advance for flooding conditions.

Need of IFLOWS-Mumbai

Floods have become a regular phenomenon in various regions of Mumbai, affecting the lives of its citizens.

With changes in weather and topography, rainfall has increased thereby leading to the flooding of residential areas as well as critical infrastructure including roads, railways, etc. IFLOWS is the solution to the problem at hand.

It is a first-of-its-kind floodwater management solution aimed at preventing flooding, and stabilizing flood zones.

The recent flood on 29 August 2017 had brought the city to a standstill. Last year, post-monsoon and unseasonal rainfall as late as October, two tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea had caught authorities off guard and left a trail of destruction.

The flood during 26th July 2005, when the city received a rainfall of 94 cm, a 100 year high in a span of 24 hours had paralyzed the city completely.