IWMI to soon launch index-based flood insurance product

International Water Management Institute (IWMI) today said it will soon come out with an 'Index-based Flood Insurance (IBFI)' which will help insurance companies to assess the extent of crop damage due to floods and clear the claims to farmers faster.
IWMI has developed this product after a four-year research work with support from CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and Japan's Agricultural Ministry.
The index will use satellite remote sensing and computer modeling to measure flood inundation. This information will be of use to insurance companies to decide the claims faster in flood-prone states such as Bihar.

"Some of the states are raising as high as Rs 4,000 crore for crop insurance claims for the 2015-16 Kharif season. We need a robust mechanism to assess risks and damage. Technology is the answer," said Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Joint Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry at a workshop organised by IWMI here.
The government is looking for new technologies as at present it is struck with traditional way of implementing the schemes, he said.
"We at the Ministry of Agriculture are looking for rigorously tested, implementable new approaches in which IBFI could potentially be a part of. There is a firm commitment from the ministry's side to support such interventions," Bhutani said in a statement issued by IWMI.

It may be noted that the government had launched early this year a new crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY) under which premiums are kept lower and modern technologies will be used to speed up claims payment.
Speaking on the occasion, IWMI Deputy Director General Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy said, "IBFI directly contributes to one of the core objectives of PMFBY, which aims to reduce the time gap for compensation from more than a year to less than six months."
According to IWMI, the IBFI product will be piloted first in Bihar during 2017 monsoon season and scaled up in other South Asian countries.