(Feature Image: Hydrograph of Pin river at Gulling site in Lahul & Spiti on July 04, 2025)
In July 2025 during the South West Monsoon, we have found rivers crossing their respective Highest Flood Levels (HFL) at least at 12 flood monitoring sites of Central Water Commission (CWC). Of the 12 sites, 11 are in Ganga basin and 1 site is in Narmada basin. The details of all these sites are given in table below. The sixth column of the table is the information about rise in meter (m) over the old HFL, duration (hours-hrs) the river has stayed in extreme floods and number of years (yrs) after the HFL is breached. The 12 sites are spread over 5 states: Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand.
Table: Rivers crossing HFL in July 2025.
| SN | Site/ River | District/ State | Old HFL/ Date | New HFL/ Date | Rise/ Duration/ Year |
| 1 | Kuthnaur/ Yamuna | Uttarkashi/ Uttarakhand | 1441.35 m 18.08.2019 | 1429.3 m 03.07.2025 | |
| 1428.9 m/ 03:00 hr/ 29.06.2025 | |||||
| 2 | Pachawali/ Sind | Shivpuri/ Madhya Pradesh | 433.36 m/ 03.08.2021 | 433.96 m 07:00 hr/ 30.07.2025 | 0.60 m/ ~32 hrs/ 4 yrs |
| 433.58 m/ 23.06.2011 | |||||
| 3 | Bijroni/ Sind | Shivpuri/ Madhya Pradesh | 445.65 m/ 07.08.2021 | 446.9 m/ 04:00 hr/ 30.07.2025 | 1.25 m/ ~18 hrs/ 4 yrs |
| 445.48 m/ 23.08.2022 | |||||
| 4 | Kaimaha/ Urmil | Mahoba/ Uttar Pradesh | 215.2 m/ 19.08.2016 | 218.7 m/ 13:00 hr/ 18.07.2025 | 3.5 m/ ~08 hrs/ 9 yrs |
| 215.2 m/ 16.08.2008 | |||||
| 5 | Chakghat/ Tons | Prayagraj/ Uttar Pradesh | 94.7 m/ 02.08.2021 | 96 m/ 11:00 hr/ 18.07.2025 | 1.3 m/ ~25 hrs/ 4 yrs |
| 93.26 m 29.09.2019 | |||||
| 6 | Lalganj/ Belan | Mirzapur/ Uttar Pradesh | 137 m/ 01.08.2021 | 137.55 m/ 21:00 hr/ 17.07.2025 | 0.55 m/ ~18 hrs/ 4 yrs |
| 136.59 m/ 04.10.2019 | |||||
| 7 | Nigai/ Sone | Sonbhadra/ Uttar Pradesh | 162.17 m/ 17.09.2024 | 162.84 m/ 24:00 hr/ 17.07.2025 | 0.67 m/ ~23 hrs/ 1 yr |
| 161.33 m/ 29.09.2019 | |||||
| 8 | Yadunathpur/ Sone | Rohtas/ Bihar | 148.14 m/ 15.08.2019 | 149.35 m/ 10:00 hr/ 18.07.2025 | 1.21 m/ ~45 hrs/ 6 yrs |
| 9 | Kolhachak/ Dhardha | Patna/ Bihar | 55.99 m/ 30.09.2019 | 56.13 m 04:00 hr 18.07.2025 | 0.14 m/ ~16 hrs/ 6 yrs |
| 10 | Masaurhi/ Dhardha | Patna/ Bihar | 57.79 m/ 26.08.2024 | 59.54 m/ 02:00 hr/ 18.07.2025 | 1.75 m/ ~48 hrs/ 1 yr |
| 11 | Berhait/ Gumani | Sahebganj/ Jharkhand | 48.8 m/ 25.09.2006 | 49.55 m/ 12:00 hr/ 16.07.2025 | 0.75 m/ ~19 hrs/ 19 yrs |
| 48.55 m/ 16.07.1977 | |||||
| 12 | Katangatola/ Matiyari | Mandla/ Madhya Pradesh | 446.72 m/ 08.08.2019 | 447.13 m 08:00 hr 08.07.2025 | 0.41 m/ ~3 hrs/ 6 yrs |
Of the 12 sites 4 are in Uttar Pradesh and 3 each in Madhya Pradesh & Bihar and 1 each in Uttarakhand and Jharkhand states.
The case of Kuthnaur site on Yamuna again shows inaccuracy in maintaining HFL records by the CWC. The river had set 1441.35 meter HFL at the Kuthnaur on 18.08.2019. However now CWC website shows 1429.3 meter dated 03.07.2025 as HFL for the site which is about 0.12 meter lower than the HFL attained in 2019. Before this, the CWC website showed 1428.9 meter as HFL attained on 29.06.2025 at the site following a cloudburst in the area. We have recently observed similar issues at least at 8 sites in Himachal Pradesh.
HFL Breach Incidents in May-June 2025
Unlike the trend seen in recent years, we could observe only 2 HFL breach incidents in May and June 2025. Both the incidents have taken place in North Easten states with 1 each in Barak and Brahmaputra basins. The details of same is given in table below.
| SN | Site/ River | District/ State | Old HFL/ Date | New HFL/ Date | Rise |
| 1 | Hayuliang/ Lohit | Anjaw/ Arunachal Pradesh | 496.72 m/ 23.07.2004 | 497.89 m/ 12:00 hr/ 31.05.2025 | 1.17 m/ ~08 hrs/ 21 yrs |
| 2 | Matijuri/ Katakhal | Hailakandi/ Assam | 22.73 m/ 10.09.2007 | 22.80 m/ 17:00 hr/ 02.06.2025 | 0.07 m/ ~32 hrs/ 18 yrs |
Rivers flowing close to HFLs
In addition to the HFL breaches, we have observed flood level in rivers at least at 10 sites rising close to their respective HFLs. Half of these sites are in Barak and Brahmaputra basins where rivers narrowly missed crossing the HFLs mainly in June 2025. Interestingly, the same rivers at the 4 sites in North East had rose close to the HFLs in May 2024 too. The remaining 5 sites where flood level increased close to the HFLs in the month of July 2025 are part of Ganga basin.
| SN | Site/ River | District/ State | HFL/ Date | Peak Level/ Date | Missed Crossing HFL by |
| 1 | Kampur/ Kopili | Nagaon/ Assam | 66.2 m/ 18.06.2022 | 62 m/ 02.06.2025 | 0.2 m |
| 61.79 m/ 20.07.2004 | |||||
| 2 | Fulertal/ Barak | Cachar/ Assam | 26.43 m/ 21.06.2022 | 25.87 m/ 02.07.2025 | 0.56 m |
| 26.39 m/ 21.07.2004 | 25.94 m/ 31.05.2024 | 0.49 m | |||
| 3 | Annapurna Ghat/ Barak | Cachar/ Assam | 21.84 m/ 01.08.1989 | 21.45 m/ 02.06.2025 | 0.39 m |
| 21.54 m/ 31.05.2024 | 0.30 m | ||||
| 4 | Badarpur Ghat/ Barak | Karimganj/ Assam | 18.48 m/ 11.09.2007 | 18.3 m/ 03.06.2025 | 0.18 m |
| 18.15 m/ 31.05.2024 | 0.33 m | ||||
| 5 | Karimganj/ Kushiyara | Karimganj/ Assam | 16.57 m/ 10.06.2010 | 16 m 02.06.2025 | 0.07 m |
| 16.51 m/ 30.05.2024 | 0.06 m | ||||
| 6 | Yadunathpur/ Sone | Rohtas/ Bihar | 148.14 m/ 15.08.2019 | 147.95 m/ 13.07.2025 | 0.19 m |
| 7 | Seondha/ Sind | Datia/ Madhya Pradesh | 143.74 m 12.09.2024 | 143.38 m/ 31.07.2025 | 0.36 m |
| 143.7 m/ 04.08.2021 | |||||
| 141.73 m/ 24.07.1971 | |||||
| 8 | Kairi/ Belan | Rewa/ Madhya Pradesh | 95.85 m 01.08.2021 | 95.4 m/ 18.07.2025 | 0.45 m |
| 9 | Rajhara/ North Koel | Palamu/ Jharkhand | 183.21 m 20.08.2019 | 182.95 m/ 17.07.2025 | 0.26 m |
| 10 | Mathani RB/ Jalka | Baleshwar/ Odisha | 7.31 m/ 22.09.2021 | 7.2 m/ 26.07.2025 | 0.11 m |
| 7.05 m/ 27.08.2020 |
False HFL Breach Alarm
One of the persistent problems observed with CWC flood forecast website is that it intermittently keeps flashing false HFL breach at the respective sites whereas in actual there is no HFL breach. It mainly happens due to wrong data entry and the problem continues in this monsoon season. This year the website flashed false HFL breach simultaneously at least at 29 sites in West and South India on June 22, 2025, besides other instances. The site also frequently is very slow and the respective pages do not open frequently.
SANDRP
SANDRP 