Floods in India

Flooding occurs when extreme volume of water is dired by rivers, creeks

and many other geographical features into areas where the water cannot
be drained adequately. Often during times of heavy rainfall, drainage
systems in residential areas are not adequate, or unchecked civil
development severely impedes the functionality of an otherwise acceptable
drainage system. Floods cause extremelyi large numbers of fatalities in
every country, but due to India's extremely high population density and
often under-enforced development standards, large amount of damages
and many deaths which could be otherwise avoided, are allowed to
happen. India witnesses floodue to excessive rain which then results in
overflow of rivers, lakes and dams, which adds to cause large amounts of
damage to people's lives and property. In the past, India has witnessed
many of the largest, most catastrophic floods, causing irreparable damage
to people's livelihood, property, and crucial infrastructure.
This is a list of notable recorded floods that have occurred in India.

Before 1999

In October 1943, Madras (now Chennai) saw the worst flood to hit the
city. Flood occurred due to excessive rains that lasted for 6 days and
overflowed Coovum and the Adyar rivers. Damage caused to life and
property was immense however estimate figure is unknown. [1]

On 11 August 1979, the Machchu-2 dam situated on the Machhu

river burst, thus flooding the town of Morbi in the Rajkot
district of Gujarat.[2] Exact figure of loss of lives is unknown, but it is
estimated between 1800 and 2500 people. [3][4][5]

In 1987, Bihar state of India witnessed one of its worst flood till then.
Flood occurred due to overflow of the Koshi river; which claimed lives of
1,399 humans, 302 animals and public property worth INR 68
billion (US$1.0 billion).

Present

Heavy rains across the state of Maharashtra, including large areas of

the metropolis Mumbai which received 994 mm (39.1 inches) alone
on 26 July 2005 killed at-least 5,000 people. The day is still remembered
as the day Mumbai came to a standstill, as the city faced worst ever
rain. Mumbai International Airport remained closed for 30
hours, Mumbai-Pune Expressway was closed for 24 hours with public
property loss was estimated at 550 crore (US$82 million).

June 2015 Gujarat flood: Heavy rain in June 2015 resulted in

widespread flood in Saurashtra region of Gujarat resulting in more than
70 deaths. The wild life of Gir Forest National Park and adjoining area
was also affected.[6][7]

July 2015 Gujarat flood:Heavy rain in July 2015 resulted in

widespread flood in north Gujarat resulting in more than 70 deaths.[8]

2015 South Indian floods:Heavy rain in Nov-Dec 2015 resulted in

flooding of Adyar, Cooum rivers in Chennai,Tamil Nadu resulting in
financial loss and human lives.

2016 Assam floods: Heavy rains in July-August resulted in floods

affecting 1.8 million people and flooding the Kaziranga National
Parkkilling around 200 wild animals.