The disastrous floods that struck the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (and later parts of northern Pakistan) during September 2014 have promoted India’s Central Water Commission (CWC) to improve flood warning systems in the state.
Flood warning systems in Jammu and Kashmir remain behind similar warnings systems in the rest of the country. The September 2014 floods claimed 283 lives and caused unprecedented damage.
During the height of the flooding, the lack of flood forecasting and warning system in the state caused outrage. India Today wrote
The Central Water Commission (CWC), India’s premier water resources body that is responsible for flood forecasts and related advisories to states, has no forecast for any place in Jammu and Kashmir. India’s northernmost state is facing the worst floods in its living memory, but the CWC remains blissfully unperturbed
A new flood warning system in Jammu and Kashmir, which would include at least 25 monitoring stations, is planned by CWC. Part of the function of the new system would be to measure river levels on an hourly basis.
“The modern Flood Forecasting System would be set up in the state as part of the 12th Five-Year Plan (before 2017),” a Water Resources Ministry source told the Press Trust of India.
