The World Bank Board has approved the USD 175 M National Hydrology Project (NHP), which will strengthen the capacity of institutions to assess the water situation in their regions and reduce their vulnerability to recurring flood and droughts, saving hundreds of lives and livelihoods.
The National Hydrology Project will be build on the success of the Hydrology Project-I and -II, under which, the real-time flood forecast systems integrated with weather forecast to give an accurate picture of the water situation in that region. As a result, the time available for early warnings on flood and preparation for flood management improved from hours to days, which led to saving hundreds of lives and avoided flood damages ranging from USD 17 M to USD 65 M in a year.
This project will help new states to better manage water flows from the reservoirs and also to monitor all the important aspects of the hydro-meteorological cycle and adopt the procedures laid out in the earlier projects.
A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) has been signed between the central government and the states to integrate and establish the National Water Informatics Center.