Flood Management Strategy for Brahmaputra Basin Through Storage

Abstract

Brahmaputra River water is the prime resource endowed to the North Eastern Region of India. It has the potential to bring all the desired growth and prosperity to the region. If left unmanaged, it becomes the biggest bottleneck against development due to recurring floods. Flood is a major concern for the development of northeastern region. The mighty Brahmaputra and its tributaries flow above the danger level across Arunachal and Assam state during monsoon almost every year and affect lakhs of people, inundating human habitations and farm land in several districts. It also damages the unique wild life and fauna of the region. The average annual yield of Brahmaputra is about 540 BCM at the terminal point of the basin within India. However, just about 6 to 7 judiciously located storage projects leading to about 14 BCM of storage can turn around the biggest bottleneck of recurrent floods into a great opportunity of cheap and reliable nonpolluting power with an efficient round-the-year navigation approaching all the way across the region. In the present paper, mainly flood management approach for Brahmaputra basin through strategic storage projects has been discussed.