TITLE:
Real Time Data Analysis of West Rapti River Basin of Nepal
AUTHORS:
Rocky Talchabhadel, Rajendra Sharma
KEYWORDS:
Floods, Monitoring, Real-Time Data, Warning Level, Danger Level
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.2 No.5,
December
18,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Floods are the most widespread
climate-related hazards in the world, and they impact more people globally than
any other type of natural disasters. It causes over one third of the total economic
loss from natural catastrophes and is responsible for two thirds of people
affected by natural disasters. On the other hand, studies and analysis have shown
that damage reductions due to forecasts improvements can range from a few
percentage points to as much as 35% of annual flood damages. About 300 people
lose their lives each year due to floods and landslides in Nepal with property
damage exceeding 626 million NPR on average. The West Rapti River basin is one
of the most flood prone river basins in Nepal. The real-time flood early
warning system together with the development of water management and flood
protection schemes plays a crucial role in reducing the loss of lives and
properties and in overall development of the basin. The non-structural
mitigating measure places people away from flood. This method is designed to
reduce the impact of flooding to society and economy. This paper presents an
overview of flood problems in the West Rapti River basin, causes and
consequences of recent floods and the applicability and effectiveness of the
real time data to flood early warning in Nepal.