Mumbai: Software to help wards stay two steps ahead of floods

In the past two days there has been much praise for IFLOWSMumbai mdash a stateoftheart flood warning system developed for the island city that can predict floods from three hours to three days in advance in specific geographical areas mdash thereby giving ward officers and disaster management officials a headsup to carry out evacuation measures in lowlying areasThe software mdash tailormade by the National Centre for Coastal Research NCCR for the BMC mdash was described by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray as a boon during a videoconference after the softwares launch on Friday as Mumbai has started receiving light showers with heavy rain forecast for the weekendUnion Minister for Health and Family Welfare Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan who was present at the launch said the system would help Mumbaikars in a big way since it can predict floodsThe system collects data such as topography drainage system water bodies in the city etc and forecasts the level of inundation in certain pockets However once the prediction is made it will ultimately be the responsibility of the areas ward officer to carry out timely evacuation divert traffic if needed and impose safety measures in the areaThe precursor to IFLOWSMumbai was a software called CFLOWS developed by NCCR which falls under the Ministry of Earth Sciences for Chennai after the Chennai floods last year work on the Mumbai model began after the Disaster Management Department of MCGM approached MoES to develop a similar system in August last yearAdditional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu said The software has wardlevel predictability ranging from three hours to three days The threeday window will be helpful for evacuations while the sixhour window will help divert traffic from potentially flooded areas Since this is the first year we will have to observe how well it worksAccessibility to the software has been given to every ward officer Every ward has a control room which during the monsoon will be told to make predictions for the ward If a particular ward is expecting flooding within the next two days the ward officer will mobilise his team move people and make arrangements for evacuation if neededHe added The officers at the ward will be the first responders Ward level accessibility has been given because their machinery is well equipped to handle such situationsWhat its makers saySpeaking from Chennai Dr M V Ramana Murthy director NCCR whose team along with other departments under the MoES developed CFLOWS said the software fell under the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority TNSDMA whereas IFLOWSMumbai developed for the Disaster Management Cell falls under the authority of the corporation not the stateThe Disaster Management Cell under BMC has a more efficient system in place They have an entire team dedicated to Mumbai city alone Functionality wise this is more efficientCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news