Plug the leaks to reduce flood risk

FLOODWATER has started receding in Punjab, but the calamity is not yet over. It was one of the worst flood disasters in recent decades, affecting all 23 districts and impacting nearly two million people in over 2,000 villages. Lakhs of people have been displaced, and more than 50 have died in flood-related incidents.

Clearly, the agricultural sector has suffered the most, with over 1.7 lakh hectares of farmland submerged. Crops have been damaged, and lakhs of livestock and poultry birds have been left without fodder and shelter. The damage to houses and other infrastructure in villages is massive.

The post-flood situation is more challenging. Health and agricultural rehabilitation are the most immediate tasks. The stagnant water increases mosquito-breeding, leading to malaria, dengue and chikungunya. Water-borne diseases like typhoid, diarrhoea and hepatitis can spike if drinking water remains contaminated. The risk of snakebites has also increased. Since large tracts of farmland are under silt and sand, land would need proper reclamation measures before the next sowing season. The crop cycle, too, has been disrupted due to the loss of standing paddy and delayed sowing of wheat.

While crop damage is visible and immediate steps are needed to help farmers, the authorities should not neglect long-term damage caused to the health and education infrastructure in the state. Floodwater has left 1,280 dispensaries and health and wellness centres, over 100 community health centres and 31 sub-divisional hospitals under water, disrupting essential services and damaging equipment worth several hundred crores of rupees. This is a double whammy. The healthcare delivery has been hampered when it is needed the most to prevent the outbreak of diseases.

The damage to the education sector is widespread. About 3,300 government and private schools have either been impacted in various districts. Floods forced their closure, and some of them are so damaged that they will not be able to function for some more time, particularly in the worst-affected areas in Gurdaspur, Ferozepur and Fazilka. School buildings have suffered structural damage in many cases. All this is bound to disrupt the studies of thousands of children.

The State Disaster Management Plan (SDMP) of Punjab recognises flood as a major hazard due to the state’s high vulnerability. The causative factors are also well recognised. Almost 80 per cent of the rainfall in the state occurs within three months that coincide with the main cropping season. There is increased encroachment in the floodplains, but the socio-economic conditions of people living there are poor, as the local economy is primarily dependent on the monsoon paddy. There is very little or no forest cover in the flood-prone areas.

Beas, Sutlej, Ravi and to some extent Ghaggar have been identified in the state’s flood hazard map. Over the years, the flood problem in the Beas, Sutlej and Ravi has been mitigated through the construction of reservoirs and embankments, but flood risk due to high releases from reservoirs and breaches in embankments persists. There is a severe problem of soil erosion by water in normal times. About 60 per cent of the soil which is washed away ends up in rivers, streams and lakes, making waterways more prone to flooding as well as contaminating water bodies with fertiliser and pesticide residues.

Besides suggesting a range of flood protection measures such as strengthening embankments, improving drainage efficiency, desilting of stream beds, curbing encroachments, revival of village ponds, construction of water harvesting structures and preventing waste disposal in canals and rivers, the SDMP suggested district-specific measures for most flood-prone areas.

Given the damage caused to vital infrastructure like health centres and schools during floods, it is imperative to make them safe by adopting new techniques in construction and siting. This way, damage can be minimised and these facilities can be kept operational during a disaster.

Kerala, which faces a flood-like situation every year, has taken steps to make its rural health infrastructure disaster-ready. In the 2018 floods, over 330 health facilities were fully or partially damaged in the southern state. While rebuilding health facilities that were completely damaged, the state authorities conducted a detailed vulnerability assessment of each location, incorporated critical design changes and used resilient building technologies and materials. Those partially damaged were retrofitted on similar lines.

All that is needed are small tweaks in design. For example, all primary health centres in Kerala were earlier single-storeyed, which made them prone to flooding. New ones being developed are multi-storeyed, with upper floors for housing diagnostic equipment, pharmacy, medical records and power supply backup. Thus, even if floodwater enters the facility, vital equipment and records would be safe on the first floor. The hospital safety guidelines of the National Disaster Management Authority stipulate that every hospital in the country spell out the minimum required standards for healthcare facilities.

In addition, we need to take several non-structural steps for mitigation of flood impacts, such as building the capacity of local bodies and communities through awareness, sensitisation and training. In this context, the disaster risk reduction initiative of cyclone-prone Odisha is worth studying and emulating.

The Odisha model, praised globally, includes establishing early warning systems, constructing multipurpose cyclone shelters, training community volunteers, creating rapid action forces, empowering local governance bodies and integrating disaster management into development planning at the local level to enable rapid response to disasters like cyclones and floods.

A cadre of over one lakh volunteers drawn from gram panchayats, women’s self-help groups, etc, have been trained to reduce disaster risk and manage rescue and relief operations. The involvement of the community and civil society holds the key.

The flood problem needs a holistic approach both for prevention and risk reduction. Disaster management plans exist, best practices and guidelines have been developed, and successful models like those of Kerala and Odisha are available to study and emulate. All Punjab needs is to implement them and not wait for the next disaster.

Dinesh C Sharma is  science commentator.