Hyderabad: Minister minister for irrigation and civil supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday urged Central Water Commission (CWC) officials to assist Telangana in designating a nodal agency for floodplain zoning (FPZ), and stressed the need for coordinated and technology-driven flood management.
Addressing the workshop organised by CWC in Hyderabad, Uttam Kumar said that state government is developing an integrated framework involving water resources, urban development, revenue, disaster management and local bodies. “FPZ is not anti-development. It is about intelligent development that protects lives, agriculture and infrastructure. The CWC officials should assist in making the nodal agency for FPZ.” he said.
The minister said the Musi river project would be the first major application of FPZ, with plans to extend it to priority stretches of the Godavari and Krishna basins, including vulnerable regions like Bhadrachalam. He added that evacuation procedures were recently tested across all districts simultaneously through a mock drill, helping assess coordination and response systems under simulated flood conditions.
Calling for collaboration, he invited institutions such as IIT Hyderabad, IIT Tirupati and NIT Warangal to contribute their hydrodynamic models and data systems, while urging startups to build GIS dashboards, AI-based flood models and citizen-facing applications.
He also flagged the issue of poor desiltation of reservoirs, which reduces storage capacity and aggravates floods, and sought greater support from the ministry of Jal Shakti for funding such works.
A.V. Ranganath, commissioner of the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), had presented on the functioning of HYDRAA and rejuvenation of lakes protecting colonies from flooding.
CWC chairman Anupam Prasad has long emphasised the importance of integrating flood plain zoning into state-level planning. Yet, recognises that implementation requires collective will: coordination between governments, technical institutions, civil society, and local communities. Today’s workshop is a step toward building that shared vision.
Davendra Pratap Mathuria, Chief Engineer, CWC, highlighted the urgency of regulating floodplains, noting that losses are rising due to increasing population, rapid urbanisation, economic activity in flood-prone areas and climate change. “Floodplains are the natural right of way of rivers and must be preserved to reduce risk,” he said.
He outlined that states must designate nodal agencies, map floodplains, regulate construction and prohibit waste dumping in these zones. He added that enforcement, legal challenges and impact on existing settlements remain key hurdles.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said Telangana would prioritise demarcation of flood-prone river stretches before the next monsoon and ensure community participation in flood management. “Floodplain zoning is not a cost, but a safeguard for sustainable development,” he said.
The minister said that special focus should be on the recurring flood problems of the Godavari at Bhadrachalam and the Munneru in Khammam besidesother river sub-basins in the State. He explained the Central Water Commission’s three-zone framework — Protected Zone, Regulatory Zone andWarning Zone — and also promised to identify the first river reaches for demarcation with mapping of vulnerable pockets before the upcoming monsoon.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
