NEW DELHI: The Central Water Commission has launched its in-house developed mobile application, "FloodWatch” to forecast flood situations for the next seven days on a real-time basis. The Chairman of the Central Water Commission Kushvinder Vohra launched the app in New Delhi on Thursday.
With this app, users can access essential information regarding the flood situation across the country. The user-friendly interface will make it easy for anyone to stay informed and minimise risk during flood events.
However, the application will make forecasts based on only 328 flood monitoring points out of 1543 that are spread across the 24 river basins. The flood monitoring points are where water levels of rivers, reservoirs, and canals are gauged hourly.
“We will include as many flood monitoring points by this year's end. The app aims to use the most common platform today i.e. mobile phones to disseminate information related to the flood situation and forecasts up to 7 days on a real-time basis,” says the ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India.
These data help in making informed decisions about water allocation and forecasting flood and drought risks. The bilingual app is available for download on Android devices, providing widespread accessibility to users globally.
He further said the current monitoring points are selected in consultation with state governments, which are mostly located around human settlements. In its presentation, the official said the app utilizes advanced technologies such as satellite data analysis, mathematical modelling, and real-time monitoring to deliver accurate and timely flood forecasts.
India’s flood situation monitoring system has been in question for a long time. There are around 400 rivers and seven major river systems which are more than 2 lakh km in length. But the flood monitoring points are too low to give a true picture of situational assessment.
“Delhi floods are a case in point,” says a senior official. “We couldn’t assess it timely and forecasted” he added.
The Yamuna River in the national capital reached the staggering 208.62-meter mark, breaking the 45-year-old record of 207.49 meters by a big margin. It flooded the low-lying areas along the river and water logged in the heart of the city throwing daily life into disarray.
Vohra briefed the media that the mobile application would address the gap in the current forecasting of flood situations in the country.