Spatial landslide risk assessment in a highly populated Rohingya refugee settlement area of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent times, landslides have become a major concern in the southeast part of Bangladesh. This study aims to develop comprehensive landslide risk mapping by applying the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and geospatial techniques in Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas, a highly populated Rohingya Refugee Settlement area. To assess the landslide risk, we selected 12 influencing criteria of hazard, vulnerability and exposure under the relevant components of risk, such as precipitation intensity, landslide inventory, distance to fault line, stream density, distance to stream network, elevation, aspect, slope, geology, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), land use and land cover (LULC), and population density. These spatial criteria were weighted using the AHP model. The weighted overlay techniques were then used to produce the landslide risk map. The findings demonstrate that 2.19% of the total area is classified as a very high risk zone, and 12.74% is categorized as a high risk zone. Moderate risk areas cover 23.08% of the total area. The risk map is validated by the landslides inventory. The outcomes can be used by the concerned authorities to take the necessary steps to reduce the impact of landslides.