India prepares to mitigate heavy floods following heat waves

India is taking steps to mitigate floods that will follow the onset of the monsoon after the intense heat waves this summer caused loss of lives.

A high-level meeting on Sunday to review the preparedness for flood management has ordered the immediate construction of 50 mammoth ponds in India's Northeast to divert and store flood water from the ocean-size Brahmaputra River, which spans the region. This river is prone to cause floods when unexpectedly heavy rainfall occurs. 

India's Home Minister Amit Shah, who chaired the high-level meeting, said that such large ponds could help in irrigation, develop agriculture at a low cost, and tackle floods.

With the rising dangers from climate change, the meeting reviewed the growing phenomenon of "glacial lake outburst floods," caused in the Himalayan region by the melting of glaciers due to global warming. 

Shah said the objective of India's disaster management strategy this year is a "zero casualty approach".

A study last year by leading global environmental groups concluded that 15 million people are at risk from glacial lake outburst floods in Asia. 

At the meeting, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) offered its advanced satellite imagery for India's flood and water management agencies.

WAM