ISRO Releases Satellite Images of Flood-Hit Assam and Bihar

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has recently released the satellite images of the flood-hit states of Assam and Bihar. The ongoing floods, which were triggered by the heavy monsoon rains, have impacted the lives of lakhs of people in these two states. The space agency has acquired data from Indian and other satellites, which has helped provide several inputs to Disaster Management authorities of both the states in near real-time.

As per the ISRO website, River Brahmaputra has inundated several villages in as many as 30 districts in Assam. Based on the multi-date satellite datasets, it can be observed that 30 of Assam's 33 districts remain flooded, particularly the Golaghat, Nowgong, Lakhimpur, Barpeta, Marigaon, Biswanath, Dhemaji and Dibrugarh districts. The satellite images show the flood-impacted districts between July 10-18.

As per the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), about 16.55 lakh people in 1,536 villages across 21 of the districts are still severely affected by the flood. However, the numbers have reportedly come down since last Friday, July 24, when over 28 lakh people in 2,543 villages of 26 districts were distressed.

Moreover, these floods have also deluged 65% of the Kaziranga National Park, killing several animal species, including at least 15 rhinos, 104 hog deer, eleven wild boars, five wild buffaloes, three porcupines and two swamp deer.

As per IMD, Assam has recorded the usual amount of rainfall of about 981 mm between June 1-July 29.

The state of Bihar has also been severely affected by floods during this ongoing monsoon season. Heavy rains have led to overflowing in the catchment areas of Gandak, Kosi, and other tributaries of Ganga, thus causing floods across the East Indian state. The map shows the flood situation in Bihar between July 9-July 23.

In this time frame, based on the multi-date satellite analysis, extensive flooding was observed in Darbhanga, Purnia, Madhubani, Katihar, Araria, Saharsa, Madhepura, Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, Saran, Khagaria, Siwan, Gopalganj, Kishanganj, Supaul, Samastipur and Bhagalpur districts.

Nearly 40 lakh people have been impacted by the floods in the various districts of Bihar so far. The CWC has issued more alerts in the districts along the North Bank Tributaries of river Ganga.

Between the period of June 1-July 29, Bihar has received 728.4 mm—an ‘excess’ amount of precipitation as compared to its long-term average rainfall figures for this time period.

Meanwhile, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has also released a satellite image of entire India, with the prime focus being on heavy rainfall areas. The map shows rainfall accumulation across the country since the onset of monsoon, i.e. between June 1 and July 20.

The dark red spots on the map are the regions of the country that have received rainfall of more than 100 cm from June 1 to July 20. The map is generated using information from the Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals for GPM (IMERG).

As per the NASA Earth Observatory, many parts of central, north, and northeast India had received 15 cm more rainfall than usual by the middle of July.

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