Will the Minister of SPACE be pleased to state:-

(a) whether the Government is planning to undertake a pilot project in Assam for early warning system of flood;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
ANSWER: MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PG & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE (SHRI V. NARAYANASAMY):

(a) Yes, Sir.

(b) A pilot project on Flood Early Warning System (FLEWS) has been taken up in Assam by North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) of Department of Space (DOS) since 2009, at the behest of North Eastern Council (NEC). The pilot project initially covered Lakhimpur district of Assam and subsequently extended to seven more districts namely Dhemaji, Barpeta, Nalbari, Baksa, Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi in Assam. The percentage of successful flood alerts has improved from 25% in 2009 to 75% in 2011. The average lead time of forecast has also improved from 7 hours in 2009 to 14 hours in 2011. Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), being the main beneficiary of this project, is actively participating in providing support with regard to inter-agency data sharing, ground survey and communication of the flood alerts to the concerned mitigating agencies.

(c) Not applicable.

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