DHAKA: The Asian Development Bank and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will assist government of Bangladesh in sending flood warnings to the mobile phones of those living near rivers, reports The Japan News on Sunday

A computer system to be introduced by the ADB and JAXA will forecast areas prone to flooding based on rainfall data from the satellites and assist governments in sending flood warnings to the mobile phones of those living near rivers.

The two organizations took the initiatives aiming to reduce flood damage in developing Asian countries that receive heavy rainfall, such as Bangladesh and Vietnam, by forecasting possible floods based on data from Japanese satellites.

However, the system will be tested in Bangladesh on August 25 and 26 before full-fledged operations start in fiscal 2015 in the country and later in Vietnam, the another flood prone, report added.

In the test of the system later this month, flood warning text messages will be sent to a total of 100 residents in two areas of Bangladesh so they can carry out an evacuation drill.

The system has been developed with a ¥200 million contribution from the ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction inaugurated by the government.

The Japanese Newspaper said in this regard that Bangladesh, a country located in the Ganges River basin, experiences large-scale floods almost every year because 70 percent of its annual precipitation is concentrated in the rainy season from June through September.

Since the country does not have many rain gauges, residents living along the river often become aware of impending floods only after they notice rising water levels, they added. Floods damage their household goods, livestock and farm products, making it difficult for them to emerge from poverty.

However, to minimize flood damage, JAXA will collect rainfall data in the upper reaches of the river from its weather satellite Himawari and other satellites.

Then, a computer system developed by a Japanese company will analyze the data together with data from rain gauges on the ground.

Regarding Bangladesh, where 70 percent of the population owns mobile phones, a government organization that receives results of the analysis will send flood warnings to local residents in text messages, in this system.

The system could give a warning of up to five days to areas likely to be flooded.

Moreover, after heavy rain falls in the upper reaches of a river in Asian countries, areas in the lower reaches of the river are often affected a few days later.

This time lapse could be used to evacuate residents and build makeshift river banks.

A similar test will also be carried out in Vietnam in November, the sources added.

BDST: 1548 HRS, AUG 18, 2014