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Community-Based Affordable Flood Early Warning System in India
Implementing Partner: Build Change
Project name: Community-Based Affordable Flood Early Warning System in India
This project develops a low-cost, community-driven Flood Early Warning Dissemination System (FEWDS) using water-activated batteries to trigger emergency lights and alarms upon floodwater contact.
Designed for remote, high-risk areas, it addresses the ‘last mile’ gap in early warning systems, often hindered by delayed manual alerts.
By automating dissemination, FEWDS enables timely evacuations, aligning with advances in flood monitoring and forecasting to enhance disaster response and protect vulnerable communities.
2013 Uttarakhand flash
floods
to floods in India
Impact and Key Findings
1
The low-cost, automated Flood Early Warning Dissemination System (FEWDS), developed by Teijin in Japan, is being evaluated for adaptation in India. This study assesses its water-activated alert mechanism to strengthen flood preparedness in vulnerable rural communities, bridging critical gaps in disaster response.
2
This project evaluates the feasibility of FEWDS in Uttarakhand’s flood-prone terrain, where flash floods pose significant risks. Deploying automated, on-site warning systems could transform last-mile early warning dissemination, reducing evacuation delays and enhancing community preparedness.
3
The Mandakini River catchment, historically impacted by severe flooding, serves as a key test site for evaluating the system’s effectiveness. Findings from this pilot will guide scalable deployment in vulnerable Himalayan regions, enhancing community safety with real-time flood alerts.
