The World Bank has approved USD 175 million for the National Hydrology Project in India.
It will strengthen the capacity of current institutions to assess the water situation and enable them to have real time flood forecast systems across the nation.
Apart from helping states benefiting from earlier projects to fund and upgrade as well as complete monitoring networks, the national project will also assist new states to manage reservoir water flow better.
This will reduce the vulnerability of many regions to recurring floods and droughts as a result of real time ground information for the entire country issuing alerts for difficulties encountered.
The entire project worth INR 3679 crore will be implemented by 2023-24.
World Bank will provide financial assistance for nearly 50 percent of the total cost.
National Hydrology Project approved by the World Bank Board on 15th March 2017 building on the success of earlier India projects- Hydrology Project I and II.
This led to real time flood forecast systems integrated with weather forecast in two large river systems - Krishna and Satluj Beas.
This gives reservoir managers an accurate picture of water situation in their region.
National projects will now scale up successes attained under HP-1 and 2 to cover the whole nation including Ganga and Bramhaputra Barak basins.
In the context of climate change, advanced flood management and enhanced river basin planning are essential for creating livelihood and sustaining economic growth.
Project can help communities to plan in advance to create resilience against uncertainties of climate change.
About the National Hydrology Project- This was approved by Union Cabinet in April 2016.
- It is a CSS with total outlay of INR 3679 crore
- INR 3640 crore will be spent for the national project while remaining INR 39 crore will be for establishment of the National Water Informatics Centre.
- Project will help states to monitor all aspects of the hydro-meteorological cycle and adopt procedures laid out in previous projects.
- This measures how much rain or snow has been received in catchment areas of rivers, the rapidity with which snow will melt, speed with which water is flowing, how much silt has built up and how the water will reach the reservoir and how soon it will work.
- The Project is aimed at improving the extent, quality, and accessibility of water resources information and decision support
