(Feature Image: An aerial view of flood-affected areas, in Rishikesh. Image Credit PTI/ Sourrce:-Out Look, 15 Aug. 2023.)
Though August 2023 has turned out to be hottest and driest month in a century; the first half the month has seen extreme flood events happening in North, North East and Central zones of the country causing breach in the highest flood level (HFL) at least at 17 flood monitoring sites being managed by Central Water Commission (CWC). These sites are in Ganga, Narmada and Brahmaputra basins.
There are some sites where HFL has been breached in June and July 2023 also and peak flood level of these sites is given below the peak levels attained in August 2023. The details of 2 sites breaching HFLs in June 2023 & 38 sites in July 2023 can be seen by clicking on respective hyperlinks. A separate report analyzing the severe flood situation in Alaknanda and Ganga basin on August 14, 2023 can be seen here.
Ganga Basin
| SN | Site/ River | District/ State | Old HFL in meter/ Date | New HFL in meter/ Time & Date | Rise above old HFL in Meter | Hrs flowing above old HFL |
| 1 | Birahi/ Birahiganga | Chamoli/ Uttarakhand | 1042.24 m 07.08.2020 | 1042.88 m 06:00 hour 19.08.2023 | 0.64 m | NA |
| 1042.55 m 13:00 hour 15.08.2023 | 0.31 m | NA | ||||
| 2 | Chhinka/ Alaknanda | Chamoli/ Uttarakhand | 1005.69 m 19.08.2019 | 1011 m 01:00 hour 14.08.2023 | 5.31 m | ~36 hours |
| 3 | Devprayag (A)/ Alaknanda | Pauri/ Uttarakhand | 467.78 m 19.10.2021 | 469.97 m 09:00 hour 14.08.2023 | 2.49 m | ~04 hours |
| 4 | Fica Barrage/ Fica | Udham Singh Nagar/ Uttarakhand | 235.30 m 04.07.2020 | 235.98 m 11:00 hour 23.08.2023 | 0.68 m | NA |
| 235.55 m 10.07.2023 | ||||||
| 5 | Nagina/ Khoh | Bijnor/ Uttar Pradesh | 236.75 m 06.08.2019 | 237.32 m 16:00 hour 23.08.2023 | 0.57 m | NA |
| 237.3 m 24:00 hour 22.08.2023 | ||||||
| 237.25 m 18.07.2023 | ||||||
| 236.82 m 10.07.2023 | ||||||
| 6 | Basantpur/ Ganga | Bijnor/ Uttar Pradesh | 100.17 m 29.08.2021 | 100.68 m 21:00 hour 16.08.2023 | 0.51 meter | ~66 hours |
| 7 | Anupshahar/ Ganga | Anup Shahar/ Uttar Pradesh | 180.85 m 17.08.2020 | 180.96 m 18:00 hour 18.08.2023 | 0.11 m | ~33 hours |
| 180.86 m 19.07.2023 | ||||||
| 8 | Kachhla Bridge/ Ganga | Budaun/ Uttar Pradesh | 162.79 m 27.09.2010 | 162.84 m 12:00 hour 19.08.2023 | 0.05 m | ~48 hours |
| 162.91 m 04:00 hour 20.07.2023 | ||||||
| 9 | Gata/ Vesli | Bhind/ Madhya Pradesh | 139.54 m 12.10.2022 | 139.59 m 12:00 hour 09.08.2023 | 0.05 m | ~16 hours |
| 138.84 m 27.09.2019 | ||||||
| 10 | Vijay Raghavgarh/ Tons | Katni/ Madhya Pradesh | 342.36 m 29.08.2020 | 345.58 m 15:00 hour 05.08.2023 | 3.42 m | NA |
| 346.45 m 22.08.2022 |
The maximum 10 HFL breach incidents mostly on new flood monitoring sites have taken place in Ganga basin. 4 each of these incidents have occurred in Uttarakhand & Uttar Pradesh & 2 in Madhya Pradesh.
While most of the HFL breaches in Ganga basin have taken place on new sites, the Kachhla Bridge site on the Ganga River in Bijnor has become the exception where the HFL is breached after 13 years in August as well as in July 2023. The river has remained in an extreme flood situation at this site for most of the days in these months since July 13, 2023.
Though the map on CWC website shows the site location of Vijay Raghavgarh site on Katni river, the hydrograph mentions it on Tons River. Moreover, the site had attained 346.45 meter HFL in August 2022, however the CWC did not update the flood record and the site is wrongly shown as attaining new HFL in Aug 2023 which is 0.87 meter lower than the August 2022 peak flood level.
Narmada Basin: All in Madhya Pradesh
| SN | Site/ River | District | Old HFL in meter/ Date | New HFL in meter/ Time/ Date | Rise above old HFL in Meters | Hours flowing above old HFL |
| 1 | Narmada at Gorakhpur | Dindori | 743.33 m 14.09.2022 | 745.75 m 19:00 hour 03.08.2023 | 2.42 m | 18:00 hours |
| 2 | Silgi at Kotrai | Dindori | 514.29 m 23.08.2022 | 514.98 m 18:00 hour 03.08.2023 | 0.69 m | ~13 hours |
| 3 | Belkund at Ghughra | Jabalpur | 379.28 m 22.08.2022 | 379.74 m 20:00 hour 23.08.2023 | 0.46 m | ~08 hours |
| 4 | Bhalawara/ Gour | Jabalpur | 393.42 m 22.08.2022 | 394.21 m 15:00 hour 03.08.2023 | 0.79 m | ~15 hours |
| 5 | Singaldeep/ Hiran | Jabalpur | 363.3 m 22.08.2022 | 366.14 m 18:00 hour 04.08.2023 | 2.84 m | ~80 hours |
All of these are new sites and had attained old HFL only in August and September 2022.
Brahmaputra Basin: All in Assam
| SN | Site/ River | District | Old HFL in meter/ Date | New HFL in meter/ Time/ Date | Rise above old HFL in Meter | Hours flowing above old HFL |
| 1 | Sivasagar/ Dikhow | Sivsagar | 94.24 m 22.06.2020 | 94.34 m 18:00 hour 11.08.2023 | 0.10 m | ~19 hours |
| 94.23 m 01.08.2018 | 94.27 m 17.07.2023 | |||||
| 94.19 m 25.06.1998 | ||||||
| 2 | Suklai/ Suklai | Baksa | 75.85 m 25.06.2020 | 76.16 m 04:00 hour 23.08.2023 | 0.31 m | ~13 hours |
| 75.85 m 16.06.2022 | 76.05 m 21.06.2023 | |||||
| 75.73 m 25.09.2018 | 76.01 m 15.06.2023 | |||||
| 76.18 m 12.09.1983 | 75.90 m 20.06.2023 |
In Brahmaputra basin river Dikhow at Sivasagar site in Sivasagar district of Assam has set up a new HFL in August 2023. The river had crossed June 2020 HFL at the same site in July 2023 also. Similarly, after breaching the old HFL thrice in June 2023, River Suklai at Suklai site in Baksa district of Assam has again reached a new HFL in August 2023.
Previously CWC has mentioned 76.18 meter as HFL for Suklai site dated 12.09.1983, however CWC has recently been maintaining 75.85 meter as HFL for the site attained on 25.06.2020.
Rivers Flowing Close to HFLs in August 2023
In addition to the HFL breaches, there have been at least 11 sites where rivers have either touched the old HFL or have missed crossing the old HFL by narrow margins. The table below provides the details of all these sites.
| SN | Site/ River | District/ State | HFL in meters/ Date | Peak Leve/ Time & Date | Missed breaching HFL by |
| 1 | Suraithota/ Dhauliganga | Chamoli/ Uttarakhand | 2147.74 m 05.07.2020 | 2147.66 m 24:00 hour 14.08.2023 | 0.08 m |
| 2 | Karanprayag (A)/ Alaknanda | Chamoli/ Uttarakhand | 761.35 m 19.06.2021 | 760.6 m 04:00 hour 14.08.2023 | 0.75 m |
| 3 | Srinagar/ Alaknanda | Pauri/ Uttarakhand | 537.9 m 17.06.2013 | 537.2 m 07:00 hour 14.08.2023 | 0.70 m |
| 4 | Rishikesh/ Ganga | Dehradun/ Uttarakhand | 341.72 m 05.09.1995 | 341.3 m 12:00 hour 14.08.2023 | 0.42 m |
| 341.45 m 17.06.2013 | |||||
| 5 | Sataynarayan/ Song | Dehradun/ Uttarakhand | 338.8 m 20.08.2022 | 338.8 m 06:00 hour 14.08.2023 | Touched the HFL |
| 338.49 m 28.06.2019 | |||||
| 6 | Haridwar (Dudhia Band)/ Ganga | Haridwar/ Uttarakhand | 296.3 m 19.09.2010 | 297.7 m 14:00 hour 14.08.2023 | 0.60 m |
| 295.75 m 17.06.2013 | |||||
| 7 | Fatehgarh/ Ganga | Farrukhabad/ Uttar Pradesh | 138.14 m 26.09.2010 | 137.99 m 11:00 hour 21.08.2023 | 0.15 m |
| 137.94 m 09:00 hour 24.08.2023 | 0.20 m | ||||
| 8 | Benibad/ Baghmati | Muzaffarpur/ Bihar | 50.01 m 12.07.2004 | 49.92 m 20:00 hour 28.08.2023 | 0.09 m |
| 49.8 m 16:00 hour 12.08.2023 | 0.21 m | ||||
| 9 | Mandla/ Narmada | Mandla/ Madya Pradesh | 439.40 m 15.07.1974 | 439.2 m 06:00 hour 04.08.2023 | 0.20 m |
| 10 | Kurubhata/ Mand | Raigarh/ Chhattisgarh | 220.4 m 28.08.2020 | 220.12 m 13:00 hour 03.08.2023 | 0.28 m |
| 11 | Venganur/ Periyaodai | Cuddalore/ Tamil Nadu | 78.79 m 10.10.2022 | 78.59 m 09:00 hour 12.08.2023 | 0.20 m |
8 of these 11 sites are in Ganga basin. Maximum 6 are in Uttarakhand and 1 each in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar states. 1 each of the remaining 3 such sites are part of Narmada, Mahanadi and East Flowing Rivers between Pennar and Kanyakumari basin.
The 3 sites of Fatehgarh in UP, Benibad in Bihar and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh in the list are worth mentioning where Ganga, Baghmati and Narmada rivers have narrowly missed breaching their respective HFLs after 13, 19 and 49 years.
Bhim Singh Rawat (bhim.sandrp@gmail.com)
SANDRP 