10 Aug 2016

Modelling river floods – a growing necessity in India

As a result of high intensity rainfall, India has seen an increasing number of river and coastal floods due to river overflows, dam and dike breaches and ocean storm surges. Thus, a more informed decision to managing such disasters is necessary to help mitigate the impact of flooding on residents as well as public and private properties.

The effects of climate change is far reaching and has caused tremendous stress on the heavily-populated India. In 2015, the floods that hit Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu, have cost the Indian economy an estimated US$3 billion, affecting over two million people. Impact of heavy rainfall was exacerbated by water management systems that were not able to cope with the drastic influx of water, resulting in inundation affecting, particularly, those in low-lying areas of the city.

Flooding in India became a serious threat after the Chennai flood of 2015 ©Shutterstock / Perfect Lazybones

DHI’s river flood modeling course conducted in our Delhi office from 27 to 29 June 2016 allowed operators and engineers to learn further about flood mitigative measures that can be put to use to manage India’s flood crisis. Attended by professionals, the three-day course aimed to help participants establish an overland flow model to simulate the fully integrated flow dynamics between main rivers and surrounding flood plain areas.

Our trainer Prashant, Senior Water Resources Engineer from DHI India, added that the group consisted of very dynamic participants committed to solving India’s flood situation. The exercises became a lot more interesting because of the insights and questions from the participants.

Participants of the MIKE FLOOD training with Flemming Jakobsen (Center), MD of DHI India. ©DHI

Building on the technology driven by MIKE Powered by DHI’s MIKE FLOOD modelling software, participants would hopefully be able to apply the intricate knowledge of flood modelling processes onto flood-risk areas in India. In addition, scenario analyses and tests on existing mitigation measures in India allow participants a greater understanding of river and coastal flooding events. 

‘This course was really useful for flood modelling activities. Our instructor used the right blend of both theoretical and practical knowledge’ – Amanpreet Singh, National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO

For the list of upcoming training courses in India please visit the entire calendar here.