40% rise in flashfloods in India over three years

Karam Prakash

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New Delhi, July 23

India has recorded 40 per cent rise in flashflood events over the past three years owing to global warming. The Centre, citing a report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said these trends would continue in future.

Year Number of events

2020 132

2021 145

2022 184

In 2020, India witnessed 132 flashfloods. The number rose to 145 in 2021, according to the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti’s written reply in the Lok Sabha during the monsoon session. Last year, the country experienced 184 flashfloods, of which 95 were “severe flooding”.

Of the total 184 flashfloods recorded in 2022, Uttar Pradesh witnessed extreme flooding and reported 37 flashfloods. It was followed by Bihar (25), Assam (24) and Madhya Pradesh (24).

Warmer temperature leads to increased evaporation, which in turn leads to more moisture in the atmosphere. “This extra moisture leads to intense convection and intense rainfall leading to flashfloods,” the ministry said.

“There has been a significant increase in extreme weather events, including intense rainfall activity, due to global warming. The frequency of localised heavy rainfall activity has also increased significantly due to which occurrence of landslides and flashfloods have increased,” the ministry said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

When asked about the steps taken to mitigate the effects of flashfloods, the Jal Shakti Ministry said, “The Indian Meteorological Department, in joint collaboration with the US National Weather Service, US Hydrologic Research Centre and USAID/OFDA, has developed ‘Flash Flood Guidance System (FFGS)’ for the South Asian region. The FFGS has been operational since October 2020. The FFGS provides warnings for flashfloods about six to 24 hours in advance at the watershed level for the flashflood-prone South Asian countries, including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, covering most of the Himalayan region.”

The phenomenon

• Flashflooding is a specific type of flooding that occurs in a short timeframe after a precipitation event
• It is caused by heavy or excessive rainfall generally in less than six hours
• Flashfloods are usually characterised by raging torrents after heavy rains that rip through river beds, urban streets, or mountain canyons sweeping everything before them