The Central Water Commission (CWC) through its Flood Forecasting Centres issues flood warnings. The State Governments, based on the local experience, fix a “Danger Level” for a river at certain places such as near cities or bridges. CWC issues flood warnings when the river level at a given place reaches or is expected to reach the “Warning Level” which is usually one metre below the “Danger Level”. CWC-‘issues flood warnings in the form of “Daily Water Level and Flood Forecast Bulletins”.
During flood seasons, State Governments set up control rooms at State and District Headquarters which receive the warnings from the Flood Forecasting Centres of CWC and transmit the warnings to the affected areas. The Flood Forecasting Centres also broadcast the warnings through All India Radio as well as Doordarshan and also publish in newspapers for widest possible publicity. The warnings are regularly updated as new observations and forecasts become available.