Page 70 - AJWEP-v22i2

Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution. Vol. 22, No. 2 (2025), pp. 64-86.
doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025040019

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Geospatial flood modeling and risk assessment of
floodplain villages along the Barak River, Northeast India

Shanku Ghosh and Chakkaravarthi Prakasam*

Department of Geography, School of Earth Sciences, Assam University Diphu Campus, Karbi Anglong, Assam, India
*Corresponding author: Chakkaravarthi Prakasam (cprakasam@gmail.com)

Received: January 22, 2025; 1st revised: March 4, 2025; 2nd revised: March 15, 2024; Accepted: March 17, 2025;
Published Online: April 4, 2025

Abstract: Floods are events where areas or lands become submerged due to an excessive volume of water, leading
to various impacts, such as human casualties; property damage; and social, economic, and environmental losses.
This study aims to investigate the factors influencing flood hazard modeling using statistical models (e.g., frequency
ratio, Shannon entropy) to identify flood-prone areas and assess the flood risk in villages within the Barak River
basin for effective flood management. Among the states in India, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal are
among those that are highly affected by floods. In Assam, the Barak and Brahmaputra River valleys are particularly
vulnerable to flooding, with Barak Valley being extremely prone to flood following monsoonal downpours and
breaches in river embankment. This study’s findings reveal that the entire Barak River floodplain (Barak Valley)
exhibits high to very high flood susceptibility. All districts within Barak Valley show more than 50% of their area
as flood-prone, with Karimganj district having the highest flood susceptibility, as 70% of its area is in the very high-
risk category, which is the highest among the districts. A total of 866 villages in the study area are highly vulnerable
to floods, accounting for 46% of the villages in the region. These villages are mostly located along the riverbanks
and low-lying areas surrounding water bodies. These findings emphasize the need for targeted flood management
strategies such as forecasting, early warning systems, and land use planning in these villages.

Keywords: Flood hazard; Vulnerability; Exposure risk assessment; Statistical models; Barak River basin

1. Introduction flood hazard, vulnerability, and risk, enabling reliable
assessments and strengthening resilience worldwide.
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Global flood risk is a significant concern, with studies Among the different types of disasters, floods are the
showing an increasing trend in flood risk worldwide due single largest disaster, causing 21% of total disaster
to climate change. High-income countries, including deaths, 13.46% of injuries, 46.73% of the disaster-
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Singapore, Japan, Luxembourg, and South Korea, are affected population, and 24.38% of worldwide disaster
among the most at-risk nations, with a slow but steady economic damage. Asia is home to a disproportionate
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rise in flood risk projected under different scenarios. share of 73% of the global flood-risk population. Within
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Vulnerability to floods is influenced by exposure, Asia, South Asia bears the brunt of flood impacts,
sensitivity, and coping capacity, with spatial disparities with 39% of the continent’s flood-affected population
between continents highlighting Asia and Europe as residing there, followed by Southeast and East Asia
high-risk areas. To address the challenges of flood with 30% and 20%, respectively. Globally, India is
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risk assessment in developing regions, we need to map the second most flood-affected country next to China.
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Volume 22 Issue 2 (2025) 64 doi: 10.36922/AJWEP025040019