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As the delayed monsoon revived in India, severe floods gripped 10 states by the first week of August. Over a million people were affected, with 0.3 million evacuated to relief camps. India has long normalised floods as a recurring disaster. Annually, floods affect 7.17 million hectares (mha), of which nearly 4 mha is cropped area; they kill 1,654 people and over 0.6 million cattle; and damage 1.2 million houses. According to the National Disaster Management Authority, based on an assessment for 1996-2005, the average annual flood damage was worth R4,745 crore, compared to R1,805 crore for the preceding 53 years. Increasing damage points to rapid urbanisation, development and economic activities.
In recent decades, floods have changed character and chemistry. Flood spells are becoming ferocious and no longer stick to the monsoon season, partly shaped by disruption in rain patterns due to climate change. An analysis by Down To Earth shows that the pre-monsoon season is now emerging as a new period with flood risks. On May 1, much before the onset of the monsoon, the Central Water Commission warned of severe flooding in Assam. Moreover, even a moderate spell of high-rainfall leads to a flood-like situation. Floods are also spreading beyond riverine areas to urban settlements. This is because India has damaged its rivers, floodplains and catchments, hindering rivers from performing their basic natural job: draining water.
Even as the disaster increases in scope and damage, flood management and prevention remains stuck at just admitting its threat. In fact, “flood management” does not appear in any of the three lists in the Constitution that earmark responsibilities of the Union, state and the local self-government. It is the presumed duty of the states while the Centre supports and guides them.
Way back in 1954, when the country witnessed one of its severest floods, the then Parliament made a policy statement: “To rid the country from the menace of floods by containing and managing floods and thus solving the problem.” The prescription to mitigate and prevent flood impacts came in 1957 when the then Union government set up a high-level committee on floods.
This committee for the first time recommended floodplain zoning, flood forecasting and warning and made flood control part of all water-related programmes. In 1980, the first National Flood Commission made recommendations including legislation and enforcement by states to prevent unauthorised riverbed cultivation and encroachments into drains, and a National Flood Control Authority. In 2012, a Draft River Conservation Zone (Regulation of Harmful Activities) Rules was proposed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to protect riverbeds and floodplains.
The rules are neither notified nor adopted. In 2019, the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti was given the responsibility of steering this regulation, but there has been no movement. In 2021, a report by the government think-tank NITI Aayog suggested a “National Water Model”, based on a similarly named US model that simulates observed and forecast streamflow. But the NITI Aayog did caution that the process is complex and needs advanced technology.
This article was originally published in the August 16-31, 2026 print edition of Down To Earth
