Chastened by the failure of the system post 26/7, BMC has decided to install an automatic flood warning system for Mumbai by next monsoon
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will install an automatic flood warning system for Mumbai by next monsoon.
At a meeting on Friday, the BMC also decided to test the system in 25 flood-prone spots in the city and figured that its core components would cost about Rs 50 lakh, a senior official said.
The system will consist of electronic rain gauges rigged to send alarm signals to a central control room in the event of a rise in the water level. If the system is found effective, the control room will be enhanced to send out flood warnings to public transport undertakings such as the railways and the BEST. Mumbai’s system should be able to warn citizens half an hour before a flood such as 26/7 occurs, the BMC has estimated.
While the BMC has been mulling over a flood-warning system since 26/7, Friday’s meeting is a concrete step in the direction. The BMC on Friday also appointed IIT Bombay as consultants for the warning system, said additional municipal commissioner S K Singh.
Apart from designing the system, the institute will identify about 25 sites to install the electronic rain gauges. Most sites may likely be in the suburbs, the worst-hit by the 26/7 floods. The institute will also peg the water level at which the electronic rain gauges should send warnings.
The rain gauges measure rainfall by accumulating rainwater. When it rains at a certain level above expectation, the gauges send out a warning to the control room which relays it to the general public. The electronic rain gauges will have to be imported at an estimated cost of Rs 2 lakh each, and their supporting IT infrastructure will cost extra.
Similar systems are already in use abroad. Thirteen eastern states in the USA have about 1,300 electronic rain gauges. China has installed water-level and rainfall gauges at 70 locations along the flood-prone Yangtze river.
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