The Central Water Commission on Thursday launched an app, called ‘Floodwatch’, which can forecast the chances of floods a day in advance. It also provides a seven-day advisory on the chances of floods at various stations in the country where the CWC maintains its measurement gauges.
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Available on Google’s Play Store, the app has a map of India with coloured circles at water stations across the country indicating the current risk of flooding. A ‘green’ circle indicates ‘normal’; yellow, above normal; orange, ‘severe’ and red, ‘extreme’. Clicking on a circle shows the current water level at the station, the highest level historically attained, the danger level and warning level. The warnings are in English or Hindi with an option for a voice-enabled prompt.
“The app will also provide State-wise/basin-wide flood forecast up to 24 hours or flood advisory, up to seven days, that can be accessed via selecting specific stations,” the Jal Shakti Ministry, the parent body of the CWC, said in a statement.
Floodwatch uses advance technologies such as “satellite data analysis, mathematical modelling and real-time monitoring to deliver accurate and timely flood forecasts. With this app, users can access essential information regarding flood situation,” Kushvinder Vohra, Chairman, CWC said in a statement.
In the last week, heavy rains have triggered landslides in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand due to a combination of extratropical storms called Western Disturbances and monsoon conditions.