Impact of Flood on the Socio-Economic Conditions in the Southern Part of Kamrup District, Assam

Indira Das,Sujit Deka

doi:10.20896/saci.v8i4.665

Abstract

Flood causes extreme loss of infrastructure and human life; besides it also propagates the condition of poverty and unceasing marginalisation of the affected region from development. This study elucidates how flood contributes to the socio-economic conditions of the rural people living in the Southern part of the Kamrup district of Assam. It focusses on flood hazard zoning and flood vulnerability analyses that are delineated based on the data collected from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Near Real-Time (NRT) Global Flood Mapping Product Portal. Flood hazard zoning of the study area is done using Multi-Criteria evaluation method based on rainfall distribution, slope, drainage density, population density, soil type, elevation, flow accumulation, roads, and embankment utilising Cartosat DEM and IRS P6 LISS III data. The zones are identified as actively flooded, chronically flooded, and occasionally flooded zones, which affects 39.4 per cent, 12.9 per cent and 26.1 per cent population respectively covering 1189.2 sq. km, that is, 56.5 per cent area of the study region. The flood vulnerability assessment of the study area is done at village and ward level adapting geospatial assessment in a GIS environment. The findings of the research are generated through observations, key informant interviews with the rural population surveying 1420 number of households. It reveals that 200 villages are affected by floods every year that constitutes 76.6 per cent households and 78.4 per cent of the population of the study area.

Highlights

Complete protection from floods is unachievable and unattainable, but the supplementary riverfriendly and a reduced number of interfering methods are essential to attain sustainable flood management (Singh & Kumar, 2017)
The findings reveal that 200 villages are affected by floods, and 21.3 per cent of households, 18.2 per cent of the population, 21.2 per cent of females and 19.9 per cent of children and 21.9 per cent of primary workers are highly vulnerable to flood hazards
The files are obtained from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) inundation data. flood-affected areas are demarcated from the The flood hazard zonation map (Figure 3) are annual flood layers of 1999, 2004 and 2010, developed based on the thematic maps of accessed from the Bhuvan Indian Geo-Platform rainfall distribution, slope, drainage density, of ISRO

Summary

Introduction

Complete protection from floods is unachievable and unattainable, but the supplementary riverfriendly and a reduced number of interfering methods are essential to attain sustainable flood management (Singh & Kumar, 2017). The focus is on flood hazard mapping along with an assessment of flood hazard vulnerability for future planning and management of socio-economic loss in the study area. Frequency, interval, and depth and the form of vulnerability of a region govern the extent and degree of flood devastation in an area (Birkmann, 2006). In this study,we have applied Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) to map and analyse flood hazard zones and flood vulnerable areas. The findings reveal that 200 villages are affected by floods, and 21.3 per cent of households, 18.2 per cent of the population, 21.2 per cent of females and 19.9 per cent of children and 21.9 per cent of primary workers are highly vulnerable to flood hazards

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion