Madhya Pradesh has been drenched for several days. Maharashtra-Gujarat is sinking. The situation is worsening in Tamil Nadu. Flood like situation also occurred in some areas of the capital Delhi. Last week, the situation became so bad due to floods in Pune, Maharashtra that the army had to be deployed. Still, there are many states where there has been slightly less or more rainfall than normal. Whereas, there are some states which are craving for water.
A government report has raised concerns amid the situation of torrential rains and floods in many places in India. It has been said in the report of the Water Commission that in the last 37 years, more than 2 crore hectares of land across the country has been destroyed due to floods.
In this report on flood affected areas, it has been told that between 1986 and 2022, 2.05 crore hectares of land in 712 districts has been destroyed. Understand it this way, the amount of land that has been destroyed by floods in 37 years is more than the area of Gujarat. The area of Gujarat is 1.96 lakh square km, while 2.05 crore hectares i.e. 2 lakh square km of land has been destroyed due to floods.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), India is very sensitive in terms of floods. Out of the total area of 32.87 lakh square km of India, there is an area of 4 lakh square km where there is a risk of flood.
How much is India affected by floods?
After America and China, India is at third place, where most natural disasters occur. Among these, flood is the most dangerous.
A United Nations report states that the worst impact of floods falls on China and India. Every year floods occur in at least 17 places in India. 34.5 crore people are affected by this. Whereas, in China every year there is flood in 20 areas on an average and it affects 90 crore people.
According to the United Nations, from 2011 to 2020, an average of 1500 Indians have died every year due to floods. However, government figures are slightly different from this. According to government data, floods have killed 4,106 people in the six years between 2017 and 2022. That means, an average of 684 people died every year.
How bad is the situation due to flood?
India is one of those countries in the world where the situation due to floods is very bad. The Water Commission report released last week shows that between 1986 and 2022, more than 2 crore hectares of land has been affected by floods.
According to the report, all the districts of UP and Bihar are flood affected. More than 50 lakh hectares of land in 75 districts of UP is affected by floods. At the same time, more than 29 lakh hectares of land in 38 districts of Bihar has been affected. Whereas, more than 24 lakh hectares of area in all 33 districts of Assam is affected by floods. That is, half of the flood affected area in the country is in these three states.
Apart from these, coastal states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal also remain at risk of floods.
These rivers become the cause of floods
– The rivers Ganga Ganga, extending from the Himalayas of Uttarakhand to the Bay of Bengal, is the largest river of India. This is a two and a half thousand kilometer long river. River Ganga causes floods in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. According to the Water Commission, 54% of the areas of the states falling in the Ganga basin are flood affected.
– Brahmaputra Brahmaputra originating from China is the ninth longest river in the world. Brahmaputra causes floods in Assam every year. Due to Brahmaputra, 13% of India’s area is flood affected. This year also there was flood in Assam due to Brahmaputra. This year more than 66 thousand people were affected due to flood in Assam.
– Kosi Kosi River, which originates from the Himalayas of Nepal, brings trouble to Bihar every year. Especially in Saharsa, Supaul, Madhepura and surrounding districts. The length of Kosi river is 720 km, out of which 260 km flows in Nepal and 460 km in Bihar. Kosi is also considered the lifeline of Bihar, but due to it floods also occur every year.
– Narmada Narmada, passing through Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, is the third longest river flowing within India. Its length is more than 1300 kilometers. Every year due to rain, Narmada causes floods in many areas of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
– Kaveri and Godavari: Kaveri river originating from Karnataka passes through Tamil Nadu and falls into the Bay of Bengal. It is about 800 km long. Due to Kaveri, there is a danger of flood in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Whereas, Godavari originates from Nashik in Maharashtra and passes through Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Godavari is 1,465 km long.
…but many areas are still dry
Monsoon season in India is from June to September. Monsoon is about to last for two months. In these two months, it is raining heavily in many areas of the country, but still most of the areas are dry.
According to the Meteorological Department, out of 729 districts across the country, 214 i.e. 30% are the districts where it has rained heavily. Whereas, 237 i.e. 33% districts have received normal rainfall. But there are 279 i.e. 37% districts where there has been very little rainfall so far. Most of these are states like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal.
Despite very little rainfall in many areas, a flood like situation has arisen in these states. The reason for this is that it rained a lot in a single day. This is called flash flood. Due to excessive rainfall in a short period of time, the water does not find a place to drain and this leads to floods. This trend has increased in the last several years.
But why is this happening?
Actually, the pattern of monsoon is changing rapidly. Not only in India, but due to climate change, this trend is being seen in many parts of the world.
Till years ago it used to happen that it rained for four months. But now this does not happen. Now it rains a lot in a short period of time. If there is excessive rainfall in a short period of time, flood like situations arise.
The Meteorological Department had presented its report in March 2020 after analyzing the data of South West Monsoon from 1989 to 2018. It was told in this report that the monsoon pattern is changing in many states of the country. In these 30 years (1989 to 2018), a huge reduction in the South West Monsoon has been seen in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
Either the rainfall is decreasing, or it is raining more in less time, due to both the reasons drought is increasing. Between 1951 and 2016, drought has been experienced on average more than twice every decade. During the same period, the areas affected by drought have also increased by 1.3% every decade.
How is the rain decreasing? Understand it this way also. According to the Meteorological Department, between 1961 and 2010, there was an average rainfall of 1176.9 mm every year. At the same time, between 1971 and 2020, there was 1160.1 mm rainfall.
Due to less rainfall, the level of measuring normal rainfall has also reduced. Earlier, 880.6 mm rainfall in the South West monsoon season was considered normal. But now 868.6 mm rainfall is considered normal.