Lessons for flood management

It was roughly the same time last year when the devastating floods hit Pakistan. Experts are of the view that floods are bound to happen again as the global climate change is causing melting of glaciers.
The government of Pakistan needs to act quickly to minimise the risk of future disasters and secure its already depressed economy.
Construction of new villages at raised levels and making strong foundations of the new buildings are some of the ways Pakistan has adopted to minimise future losses in case of a disaster. Climate and Knowledge Development Network (CDKN), an organization that aims to support decision makers in delivering climate compatible development is doing a study on making the new villages flood resilient.
Even though the solutions adopted by Pakistan to avoid future damages from floods sound useful, there is still a lot to be done. Good governance and strengthening of the countrys resilience are essential to manage the complexities of these disasters. It is of prime importance that the disaster prone population is prepared to face the challenges in case of floods.
The Indian government has exploited its technological advancement to ensure minimum losses in case of floods.
Vodafone in India has come up with a $15 mobile phone that has various applications to communicate important relief information. Also, under the "missed call alert" concept, it is now mandatory for the Indian government to call back if a missed call is received. This facility will ensure free information provision to the poor.
"We need the opportunity to make informed decisions to deal with these disasters", said Professor Vinod Chandra Menon, former member National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), emphasising that if there is timely early warning about floods, lives and property can be saved.
The early warning technique Flood Early Warning System (FLEWS), used across India has a success rate of 85 percent and its rate is expected to improve further. FLEWS uses 20 years data on various aspects to come up with a formula to estimate the distance from its formation to where the cloud would cause rainfall.
Estimation of the flood prone areas under the FLEWS can also help the government focus on maintenance and reconstruction of relevant river embankments rather than the areas that can be dealt with later on.
The efforts from across the border to minimise losses in future floods are worth appreciating and emulating. It is the need of the hour that the governments of the two countries come together in the face of natural disasters.