New system to forecast cyclones

GANDHINAGAR, Feb 9: Alarmed by recurring floods in Surat during monsoon, the State Government has decided to develop a modern forecasting...

GANDHINAGAR, Feb 9: Alarmed by recurring floods in Surat during monsoon, the State Government has decided to develop a modern forecasting system at a cost of about Rs 22 crore by 2000. The work begins shortly.

Under the system, 10 new hydrometric stations and 30 ordinary rain gauging stations will be set up in the catchment areas of the Ukai dam. Besides, a special telemetric system will be created to provide timely information to irrigation officials about the exact quantum of the waters received in the catchment areas of the dam during monsoon.

Minister for Major Irrigation Projects Jay Narayan Vyas told reporters today that the government was also contemplating to develop a similar flood forecasting system for the Sardar Sarovar Project.

Vyas said the system would help irrigation officials get information about inflow of the rain waters and release water from the dam in a planned manner, thus protecting lives and property in Surat and other areas along the Tapti river from the flood.

To a query, he said a survey was on to resolve the problems of increasing siltation and encroachments on the Tapti riverbed near Surat. The siltation and unauthorised construction of houses contribute to frequent flash floods in Surat city, he said, attributing the encroachments on both sides of the river to the bursting human population in the low-lying areas of Surat.

This, he pointed out, had reduced the flood absorbing capacity of the Tapti from 17.48 lakh cusecs to a mere four lakh cusecs. Originally, the maximum ceiling of releasing the flood water from the Ukai reservoir had been fixed at 8.5 lakh cusecs when the Ukai project was conceived.

Vyas said the Ukai8217;s catchment area was 62,225 square km, with the dam8217;s storage capacity accounting for 40 per cent of the total storage capacity of all the dams in the State.