As many as 431 flood management projects have been completed across the country, protecting an area of around 5.13 million hectares and safeguarding about 54.84 million people, the government told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary said the projects were completed under the flood management programme component of the flood management and border areas programme (FMBAP).
He said flood management and anti-erosion schemes are formulated and implemented by the states as per their priority, while the Union government supplements their efforts by providing technical guidance and financial assistance.
The minister said a total central assistance of Rs 8,725.16 crore has been released under FMBAP to various states till March 2025, which includes Rs 862.74 crore for Himachal Pradesh. During the last five years (2021–26), total central assistance released under the programme is Rs 1,566.93 crore, including Rs 49.04 crore for Himachal Pradesh, he added.
Choudhary said that in Himachal Pradesh, six flood management projects have been completed with central assistance.
On flood forecasting, he said the Central Water Commission maintains a network of 350 flood forecasting stations (150 inflow forecast stations + 200 level forecast stations) across the country and has developed basin-wise flood forecasting models to provide advanced flood forecast advisory up to seven days, in addition to short-range forecasts with a lead time up to 24 hours.
He added that the National Disaster Management Authority has implemented a common alerting protocol-based integrated alert system for the dissemination of alerts related to disasters, including floods and landslides, and is also implementing a national landslide risk mitigation programme in 15 landslide-prone states, including Himachal Pradesh.
