Google partners Central Water Commission for flood forecasting initiative

News: Mumbai will get the country’s second urban flood warning system for evaluation named IFLOWS-Mumbai.

Facts:

• IFLOWS-Mumbai: It is an Integrated Flood Warning system to enhance the resilience of Mumbai by providing early warning for flooding specially during high rainfall events and cyclones.
  • The system also has provisions to capture the urban drainage within the city and predict the areas of flooding
• Developed by: Ministry of Earth Sciences using in-house expertise and in close coordination with Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
• Significance: Mumbai will be the second city to get such a warning system in India after Chennai.

Additional Facts:

• Urban Flooding: Flood is defined as an overflow of a large body of water over areas not usually inundated.Thus,flooding in urban areas is caused by intense and/or prolonged rainfall which overwhelms the capacity of the drainage system.
• Causes: Heavy rainfall, Occurrence of High Tides, Unplanned Urbanization, Inadequate Drainage System among others.