According to Sella Nevo, a software engineer who specializes in machine learning research and development, who is leading the initiative, about 20% of fatalities worldwide from flooding occur in India. It chose Patna as an ideal location due to incessant rainfall the city receives, number of embankments and other man-made structures, which the project needs to be dealt with.
Bihar is also the country’s most flood-prone state with 73% of its 94,163-sq.km area getting flooded annually, according to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
For this initiative, the Indian government is providing Google with stream gauge measurements as well as forecasts based on their gauge-to-gauge forecasting system. Google is using these as inputs to its system which then provides an accurate map to know which areas exactly are going to be inundated.