Flood warning system for Mumbai launched, can predict flooding 3 days in advance at ward-level

Mumbaikars often find themselves battling floods as heavy rains lead to water-logging in low-lying areas during the monsoon. Despite sophisticated weather satellites and warnings of rain by the India Meteorological Department, authorities are often caught unprepared as heavy rains lead to flooding in the financial capital of the country. 

This may, however, be a thing of the past as iFLOWS- Mumbai, a state-of-the-art Integrated Flood Warning System for Mumbai, was launched on Friday. The launch through video conference was jointly done by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Union Earth Sciences Minister Harsh Vardhan.

The system will provide early warning for flooding, especially during high rainfall events and cyclones. Using this, it will be possible to have an estimate of the flood inundation 3 days in advance, along with 3 hours - 6 hours weather updates. 

It will be useful for people in case they need to be evacuated from low-lying areas as flood forecast about a particular spot can be made 12 hours in advance. The system can estimate the rainfall in each pocket and make a prediction about floods at ward-level in the metropolis.

Congratulating the scientists at the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) who developed the flood warning system, Harsh Vardhan said we are no less to anyone else in the whole world in terms of science. 

“Mumbai floods, especially that occurred in 2005 and 2017 are etched in everyone’s memory. This highly advanced flood warning system will help the people of Mumbai in a big way. A similar system was already developed by MoES and is in operation at Chennai," he said. 

The minister further said that MoES scientists have developed the best early warning system for tsunami in the whole world and have never given a false alarm on this issue. This service has also been extended to the countries in the Indian Ocean Region who are being highly benefitted, he added.  

Speaking on the occasion, Uddhav Thackeray said the state-of-the-art flood warning system developed by MoES is like a gift to the people of Mumbai. 

In the context of the health disaster as well as the recent Nisarga cyclone, he said that both blood management and flood management are equally important. 

M Rajeevan, Secretary, MoES informed that more than 160 observatories and 4 more radars to be used by the next monsoon season will enable us to forecast rainfall with a precision of 500 metres and every 15 minutes. 

Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said iFlowsMumbai can be a model for the rest of the country. 

The MoES initiated the development of the flood warning system in July 2019 using the expertise of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), in close coordination with Disaster Management Department of BMC. The request for such a warning system was made by the Disaster Management Department of BMC on the lines of a similar system developed for Chennai earlier. 

How the Prediction System Works

The sophisticated system has been developed by the Ministry of Earth Sciences using its in-house expertise, in close collaboration with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC). The system uses rain gauge data and local data such as data on land use, land topography, drainage systems, water bodies in the city, tide levels, infrastructure and population, which has been provided by BMC, a press release by the Ministry of Earth Science said. 

Using these as inputs, the prediction system models weather, rainfall, runoff and water movement, tide and storm surge impacts based on which early Flood Warnings for the city will be provided. It will address the flood inundation due to rainfall, river bank breach, storm surge, obstruction of flow due to roads, buildings, rail lines, high tides and sea level rise.

I-FLOWS is built on a modular structure and comprises seven modules. The Data Assimilation Module gathers a variety of dynamic data including IMD weather forecasts and under-water depth of rivers and lakes across Mumbai city. The Inundation Module will use the data to forecast flood inundation 3 days in advance, while the Flood Module will predict how the water will move across areas expected to be flooded. The Vulnerability and Risk Modules, which together comprise the Decision Support System, enables the administration to take smart decisions to manage the situation based on a scientific and holistic assessment of flooding risks. The Dissemination Module makes information available to field officials through various communication channels, enabling them to take prompt and informed field action.