The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) office has, among its series of reports published in recent days, one that has laid bare the ramshackle flood forecast system in the country.
The CAG has reported that the majority of equipment enabling forecast of floods has been washed away or their parts stolen. The report says 222 out of 375 telemetry stations set up along rivers such as Ganga, Brahmaputra and Damodar are not functional. In the absence of real time data, flood prediction relies heavily on data collected manually.
At a time when flooding is a worrying reality that many parts of the country are faced with, such a situation bodes ill for the safety of people. The report has shown that many of the devices have not been functioning from as far back as 2008. Also, states such as Tamil Nadu are yet to even install such systems.
Flooding is a major problem faced by people in riparian areas, particularly with rivers swelling up instantly as a result of run-off from increasingly concretised cities. People downstream and residing in floodplains are even more vulnerable today if devices to forewarn them of danger are dysfunctional.
In India, about 45.64 million hectares, that is, about 12 per cent of its total geographical expanse of 329 million hectares, are prone to floods. Each year, this natural phenomenon causes damage to life and property amounting to crores of rupees.
The sad part is that although the country has had several examples in the past to learn from, the lessons are easily forgotten. The value of life and property, particularly of people from the lower economic strata, has diminished to the extent of invisibility. The apparent absence of scientific temper among the authorities to understand the monsoons, one of the most fascinating and complex climatic phenomena covering the subcontinent, is appalling.
It is clear from the fact that equipment installed at telemetry stations have been dismantled or stolen that little care is being taken to update or secure them. At a time when modern technology is helping make data collection much easier and more accurate, the anomalies pointed out in the report show why predictions made by Indian scientists turn out to be wrong more often than not.
Many allege that Indian researchers and scientists are more comfortable with thesis and paperwork than applied practical research. That could be why India has not been able to evolve or come up with innovative and affordable scientific applications to help ease operations in day to day lives of people.
Problem also lies with the inability of the authorities concerned to understand the importance of their work in ensuring safety of thousands living in the shadow of death in the form of unpredictable rivers.
When we have dams on rivers and take various measures to control their course and alter their flow, it is also vital that we understand the new patterns that we have created in the course of such development.
Accuracy is of prime importance in any scientific study and it is vital when it comes to climate and weather. Unless data collection is made foolproof and accuracy is ensured at each step, there is no point in setting up telemetry stations. India needs to go through major upgrades in research and applied sciences.
Big talk of a modern, digital India would not sink deep as long as basic safety issues (concerning both infrastructure and security) are left ignored.
