FLOOD MITIGATION MEASURES IN RIVER JHELUM BASIN

Abstract

Floods are probably the most recurring, widespread, disastrous and frequent natural hazards of the world. India is one of the worst flood-affected countries. In India the Himalayan Rivers account for maximum flood damage in the country. The problem of flood in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is well known and has become a recurring problem to the entire region. The plains of Jhelum catchment are some of the most susceptible areas in India, prone to flooding. Recently in September 2014 a severe flood hit the valley due to the five days of incessant rainfall leaving almost whole of Srinagar city inundated which is the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Flood forecasting and flood warning are the quite effective non-structural procedures in managing the floods and that decrease the risks and the disasters along with the structural measures which aim at prevention and mitigating the flood impacts.

In view of this an attempt has been made in present work to suggest some non-structural and structural measures keeping in view the Indus Water Treaty. This study introduces to the main drawbacks of current and previous measures. The results obtained from the September 2014 floods are interpreted in a way to find the causes of flood inundation in September 2014 and proposing a solution to save the Srinagar city from floods in future.