116. Flood Management Through Structural and Non-Structural Measures

From time immemorial, flood control structures have been constructed for protection of alluvial plains, low lands and human civilization. In spite of significant technological advances in meteorology and engineering for planning and execution of flood control measures, floods still continue to cause havoc in many parts of the world. Effective flood management needs to consider the whole basin as a hydrological unit which is most appropriate for sustainable development of water resources. It also requires that any and all methods to conserve the flood water for reducing the flood losses and utilizing the same in dry season should be considered and used wherever appropriate. Experience has shown that a judicious hybrid mix of both structural and non-structural measures would optimize the benefits that would otherwise accrue from structural measures. While physical flood protection works, e.g., dams, reservoirs, flood embankments and antierosion works will continue to be necessary, emphasis should be on non-structural works such as flood forecasting, flood plain zoning to minimize losses. The paper focuses at various aspects of flood problem and its management by structural and non-structural measures in the river basins.