115. Flood Management in India – Paradigm Shift

Among the natural disasters about 40% of the social-economic impacts are caused by the floods. The United Nations, in the year 1987, declared 1900–2000 the International Decade for Natural Hazard Reduction, with the objective to reduce loss of lives, material damages, and the social and economic impacts caused by natural hazards. As many as 40% of all fatalities worldwide are caused by flooding. During the last decades in the greater part of the countries the mean number of flood victims is less than 20 per year. In more developed countries like Japan and USA, this figure is 100 victims per year, due principally to the very intense occupation of flood plains and to the occurrence of flash floods. The greater part of the victims of about 85 to 90% of total victims are in Asia, mainly in Korea, Bangladesh, India and China (3000 victims per year, and an average of some 15 million people affected per year. The erratic behaviour of India's monsoons cause almost each year droughts and floods to occur simultaneously, sometimes even within the same State. The impact of floods is stronger than ever today, because of the rapid increase in population and resulting industrial and agricultural development, and increasing occupation of the flood plains. The flood damage continues to show an increasing trend, despite the introduction of substantial structural and non-structural flood control measures in the past few decades.