Monsoon season in the Indian subcontinent region generally starts from June and stays till September/October. North-East India, the Western-Ghats, the Eastern-Ghats, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West-Bengal, and Orissa are some of the regions which receive high annual rainfall in India.
Each year, river-flooding during monsoon causes a huge loss of life and property. So, there is a need for effective water-level management in the dams, river-basins, especially during monsoons.
This monsoon, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has planned to provide estimates related to the availability of water levels in reservoirs and river basins and a possible increase in them. This will enable water-management in a better way.
In India, the management of water discharge based on real-time rainfall level and other factors still remains a challenge. Every one of us might be aware of the 2018 Kerala floods, which is an example of poor water-level management in a dam. The sudden release of water from the Mullaperiyar Dam led to the devastating flood in Kerala.
The water levels of 130 water reservoirs in India are monitored by the Central Water Commission (CWC). The IMD and CWC plan to predict the possible rise in water level/water availability in the reservoirs and river basins on a weekly/monthly/bi-monthly basis during the monsoon from June to September.
These predictions will prove to be helpful in dealing with droughts or flood-like situations. Until last year, only 10 reservoir basins had this real-time water level and rainfall monitoring services available, yet this year, the Met department plans to cover ass the reservoirs and rivers before the upcoming monsoon.
Along with this, the soil-moisture level acts as a vital parameter in making predictions. The devices for the same will be installed in 500 water-stations.
All these advanced real-time monitoring devices will bring overall water-level management to India.
Source: The Indian Express
