Assessing the district-level flood vulnerability in Bihar, eastern India: an integrated socioeconomic and environmental approach.

Abstract

States of India like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal along the Ganga River, endure natural disasters periodically, resulting in repeated trends of economic loss and damages. Especially, most of the districts of Bihar, India, are prone to floods. Based on this background, this study aims to assess the flood vulnerabilities across districts of Bihar, India, employing data from the Central Water Commission from 1953 to 2020. Further, we explore trends and patterns of loss and damage due to flood risks in Bihar. Using the flood vulnerability integrated method and the principal component analysis, the index is constructed by incorporating the three major indicators: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. This study is unique, and advances from previous studies in using a greater number of variables in exposure indicator. The proxy variable for each indicator is identified through both inductive and deductive approaches, and the composite index is constructed using all three indicators. Also, we identify the districts with high level of education and per capita income are less likely to expose flood vulnerability. The comparison of the districts reflects wide range of variation in terms of flood vulnerability as per their adaptive capacity and sensitivity. Specifically, these findings align with Target Sustainable Development Goal 11.5. This study addresses the policy for disaster prevention, risk reduction, and mitigation measures, as well as the enhancement of the capability of adaptation to floods by the affected community.