Union Government Provides Rs. 7106.47 Crore for Flood Management Through Central Assistance

The data of districts of the country which have been affected due to recent floods is not centrally maintained. The flood management schemes including anti-erosion schemes are formulated and implemented by concerned State Governments with their own funds as per their priority. The Union Government supplements the efforts of the States by providing technical guidance and promotional financial assistance for management of floods in critical areas.

To strengthen the structural measures of flood management, Union Government had implemented Flood Management Programme (FMP) during XI & XII Plans for providing central assistance to States for works related to flood control, anti-erosion, drainage development, anti-sea erosion, etc. which subsequently continued as a component of “Flood Management and Border Areas Programme” (FMBAP) for the period from 2017-18 to 2020-21 and was further extended up to 2026 with limited outlay.

Total central assistance amounting to Rs. 7106.47 Crore and Rs 1258.73 Crore has been released under FMP and River Management Activities and Works in Border Areas (RMBA) respectively, of FMBAP scheme to various States up to March 2024.

In FMBAP, upto March, 2024, a total 427 projects have been completed in various States which give protection to an area of around 5.04 Mha and protected a population of about 53.69 million. Currently 35 projects under FMP component of FMBAP in different States are ongoing. Details of State wise ongoing projects under FMP are as below:

As a non-structural measure, Central Water Commission (CWC) has established a flood forecasting network across the country and issues flood forecasts at 340 stations. The level forecasts help the user agencies in deciding mitigating measures like evacuation of people and shifting people and their movable property to safer locations. The Inflow Forecasting is used by various dam authorities in optimum operation of reservoirs for safe passage of flood downstream as well as to ensure adequate storage in the reservoirs for meeting demand during non-monsoon period.

As per report of Central Water Commission on ‘Assessment of Area Affected Due to Floods in India’ based on satellite imageries data from 1986 to 2022, the total flood affected areas in India is assessed as 21.213 Mha and area protected through various steps taken for flood management by the Central/State Government is 20.538 Mha. As per the report of Rastriya Badh Aayog (RBA) of 1980, a total of 33.516 Mha area was flood effected & 9.77 Mha area was protected from floods.