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How many years would be needed to protect flood prone states of India?

Recently, We have witnessed floods in Assam. 33 districts out of 35 districts of Assam have been affected due to flooding. Over 4.2 million people have been affected by this flood. 100,000 hectares of crop land have been damaged as of June 20 along with the Brahmaputra basin. 

40% of the area in Assam is flood prone. So, as per the finding, Assam needs 943 years to protect itself from flood while Bihar needs 966 years, U.P needs 925 years and Meghalaya needs 996 years respectively to protect itself from flooding. 

 

Floods not only cause loss to the environment and life of people but also cause economic loss to the nation. According to the Central Water Commission, flood related losses in India were estimated to be over Rs. 37 lakh crore from 1953 – 2017. 

 

Imagine yourself standing outside your house and enjoying the rain and soon you realise that water is overflowing onto land that is dry and soon the heavy rainfall covers houses to the rooftop. 

 

Flood plain zoning, National Flood Commission, Disaster Management Act, 2005, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Management Act, 2005 and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is taking steps to ensure the loss can be minimised upto some extent.

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