Maharashtra fares better than most Indian states in early disaster warning systems: study

With regard to floods, Maharashtra ranked eighth out of India’s 32 states, with ‘moderate’ exposure to floods, based on the frequency and intensity of extreme events vis-a-viz the state’s population, according to the report titled Strengthening India’s Disaster Preparedness with Technology

Mumbai: Maharashtra fares better than most Indian states at deploying early warning systems (EWS) in response to floods and cyclones, according to a new report.

Maharashtra ranked eighth out of India’s 32 states, with ‘moderate’ exposure to floods, based on the frequency and intensity of extreme events vis-a-viz the state’s population, according to the report titled Strengthening India’s Disaster Preparedness with Technology

With regard to floods, Maharashtra ranked eighth out of India’s 32 states, with ‘moderate’ exposure to floods, based on the frequency and intensity of extreme events vis-a-viz the state’s population, according to the report titled Strengthening India’s Disaster Preparedness with Technology: A Case for Effective Early Warning Systems by the Delhi-based non-profit Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

However, based on the availability, accessibility, and effectiveness of existing warning systems, the state was assigned a resilience score of 0.68 (on a scale of 0-1) indicating a ‘high’ degree of resilience to floods. In comparison, Sikkim, the best performing state, had a resilience score of 0.87, while the worst performing state, Chhattisgarh, had a resilience score of 0.15.

Vishwas Chitale, senior program lead at CEEW, explained, “We have examined the state and district-wise disaster management plans, along with expenditure of the allocated funds. Maharashtra has done better than most Indian states. This is very important because we are seeing a trend in Maharashtra where regions earlier prone to drought are now getting flooded. The recent cloudburst in Amravati is a great example. The general news coming from Maharashtra during the monsoons shows that extreme events are on the rise, and EWS will be critical in reducing loss of lives. In Mumbai, particularly, the usage of the iFlows system by the BMC and high teledensity lend themselves to effective EWS measures,” Chitale added.

This assessment assumes relevance in light of CEEW’s 2021 Climate Vulnerability Index, which ranked Maharashtra as the third most climate vulnerable state in India. The report also stated that Mumbai is one of the most exposed districts to flood and cyclone events.