Despite tech advancement, lives & assets continue to suffer: Parl panel

NEW DELHI: Amid increasing severity of floods due to heavy rainfall, a parliamentary panel has noted that socio-economic losses in the form of human lives and assets continue to occur despite significant technological advancements and substantial investments in early warning systems.The panel - standing committee on water resources - in its report submitted to Parliament on Aug 11, therefore, recommended that govt agencies further upgrade their present systems with the best available advanced technology capable of addressing the current challenges in the area of flood forecasting.IMD's climate summary reports of the last two years show the number of human casualties due to floods and heavy rains has increased from 862 in 2023 to 1,287 in 2024.In 2025, the number of casualties in rain-related incidents crossed this figure last month, reaching 1,297 till July 16. The figure was shared by the home ministry in a written response to a Parliament question in Lok Sabha on July 22. Two recent big incidents of flash floods in Uttarakhand and J&K may add nearly 100 more to this figure, showing the enormity of the problem.Though the Jal Shakti ministry in its response to the standing committee, headed by BJP LS member Rajiv Pratap Rudy, listed out various efforts, including updating sensor-based data collection, satellite-based communication systems and implementation of AI/ML techniques, which are now being taken in flood forecasting, the panel asked it for updates in three months.

The ministry informed that the Central Water Commission, which plays a crucial role in flood forecasting, provides a seven-day advisory flood forecast on its web portal using mathematical models for the 20 major river basins of the country, covering 340 flood forecasting sites. It has now planned to increase such sites to around 375 by the end of 2026, covering 28 states and six UTs.