Estimation of Integrated Flood Vulnerability Index for the Hilly Region of Uttarakhand, India
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 24, Issue 4
Abstract
Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state in India, has more than 80% of its area in the hilly regions. Owing to its hilly nature, the state is suffering from different natural calamities such as flash floods and landslides. For mitigating the impact of these natural calamities, the evaluation of the vulnerability of the state is necessary. As such, the primary objective of this study is to prepare a districtwise integrated flood vulnerability map of the state considering social, economic, and environmental factors along with the hydrological factors. The integrated flood vulnerability was estimated and mapped to classify the priority regions of the state for the identification of hot spots in terms of flooding and other disasters. The model incorporated all the factors under different heads such as exposure, susceptibility, and resilience. Moreover, climate change will alter the hydrological factor associated with the vulnerability index. As such, the impact of climate change on integrated flood vulnerability under different Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) scenarios is also evaluated. The evaluation of the results shows that a significant part of the state, around 60%, can be categorized as high vulnerable under the RCP8.5 scenario. The study shows that 20% of the area of the state will be under the shallow and low-risk zone. The district-level flood vulnerability maps prepared under the study should be useful for decision-makers in the planning and implementation of the different disaster mitigation plans of the state.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by International Multilateral Regional Cooperation Division of Department of Science and Technology, India under Grant No. CRD/2018/000026.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- AGRI
- agricultural;
- AR
- approaching road;
- CI
- composite index;
- Ex.
- exposure;
- FVI
- flood vulnerability index;
- HM
- housing material;
- ha
- hectare;
- IFVI
- Integrated flood vulnerability index;
- IPCC
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
- JJA
- June, July, August;
- LR
- literacy rate;
- No
- number;
- Num
- number;
- PR
- poverty rate;
- Res.
- resilience;
- Sus
- susceptibility; and
- TV
- total number of vehicles.
References
Adger, W. N. 1998. “Indicators of social and economic vulnerability to climate change in Vietnam.” In CSERGE Working Paper GEC 98-02, 1–39.
Ahmed, A. U. 2006. Bangladesh climate change impacts and vulnerability: A synthesis. Dhaka, Bangladesh: Climate Change Cell.
Atkins, J. P. 1998. “A study on the vulnerability of developing & Island states: A composite index.” J. Adv. Appl. Sci. 1 (4): 9–27.
Bahinipati, C. S. 2014. “Assessment of vulnerability to cyclones and floods in Odisha, India: A district-level analysis.” Curr. Sci. 107 (12): 1997–2007.
Balica, S., and N. G. Wright. 2010. “Reducing the complexity of the flood vulnerability index.” Environ. Hazards 9 (4): 321–339. https://doi.org/10.3763/ehaz.2010.0043.
Barman, S., and R. K. Bhattacharjya. 2019. “ANN-SCS-based hybrid model in conjunction with GCM to evaluate the impact of climate change on the flow scenario of the River Subansiri.” J. Water Clim. Chang. jwc2019221: 1–5. https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2019.221.
Barroca, B., P. Bernardara, J. M. Mouchel, and G. Hubert. 2006. “Indicators for identification of urban flooding vulnerability.” Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 6 (4): 553–561. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-6-553-2006.
Bereciartua, P. 2006. “Bereciartua_paper.” In A conceptual framework for reducing water vulnerability to extreme events by risk transferring schemes: elements of a case study in the Pampas system, Argentina.
Bhadra, A., A. Bandyopadhyay, S. Hodam, C. Y. Yimchungru, and R. Debbarma. 2015. “Assessment of vulnerability of Arunachal Pradesh (India) to floods.” In Congress Proc. of International Water Resource Association, 1–16. France: International Water Resource Association.
Birhanu, D., H. Kim, C. Jang, and S. Park. 2016. “Flood risk and vulnerability of Addis Ababa city due to climate change and urbanization.” Procedia Eng. 154: 696–702. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2016.07.571.
Birkmann, J. 2006. Measuring vulnerability to natural hazards: Towards disaster resilient societies, 9–54. New York: United Nations University Press.
Blistanova, M., M. Zele, P. Blistan, and V. Ferencz. 2016. “Assessment of flood vulnerability in Bodva river basin, Slovakia.” Acta Montan. Slovaca 21 (1): 19–28. https://doi.org/10.3390/ams21010019.
Chakraborty, A., and P. K. Joshi. 2016. “Mapping disaster vulnerability in India using analytical hierarchy process.” Geomatics Nat. Hazards Risk 7 (1): 308–325. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475705.2014.897656.
da Silva, R. M., C. A. G. Santos, M. Moreira, J. Corte-Real, V. C. L. Silva, and C. L. Isabella. 2015. “Rainfall and river flow trends using Mann—Kendall and Sen’s slope estimator statistical tests in the Cobres River basin.” Nat. Hazards 77: 1205–1221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1644-7.
Das, P. K. 2013. ““The himalayan tsunami”—cloudburst, flash flood & death toll : A geographical postmortem.” IOSR J. Environ. Sci. Toxicol. Food Technol. 7 (2): 33–45. https://doi.org/10.9790/2402-0723345.
Dottori, F., M. L. V. Martina, and R. Figueiredo. 2018. “A methodology for flood susceptibility and vulnerability analysis in complex flood scenarios.” J. Flood Risk Manage. 11: S632–S645. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12234.
Grills, N. J., R. Singh, R. Singh, and B. C. Martin. 2015. “Tobacco usage in Uttarakhand: A dangerous combination of high prevalence, widespread ignorance, and resistance to quitting.” BioMed Res. Int. 2015: Article ID 132120. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/132120.
Guillard-Gonçalves, C., and J. Zêzere. 2018. “Combining social vulnerability and physical vulnerability to analyse landslide risk at the municipal scale.” Geosciences 8 (8): 294. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences8080294.
Health Disaster Management. 2002. “Conceptual model: Hazard, risk, vulnerability, and damage.” Prehosp. Med. 17 (Suppl. 3): 56–68.
Iyengar, N. S., and P. Sudarshan. 1982. “A method of classifying regions from multivariate data.” Econ. Polit. Wkly. 17 (51): 2047–2049–2052.
Jiang, D., J. Wang, Y. Huang, K. Zhou, X. Ding, and J. Fu. 2014. “The review of GRACE data applications in terrestrial hydrology monitoring.” Adv. Meteorol. 2014: 725131. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/725131.
Joseph, S., A. K. Sahai, S. Sharmila, S. Abhilash, N. Borah, P. A. Pillai, R. Chattopadhyay, and A. Kumar. 2013. Extended range prediction of Uttarakhand heavy rainfall event by an ensemble prediction system based on CFSv2. Pune, India: ESSO/IITM/SERP.
Kar, S. 2007. “Inclusive growth in hilly regions: Priorities for the uttarakhand economy.” In Institute of Economic Growth Working Paper. New Delhi: Institute of Economic Growth.
Karim, F., C. Petheram, S. Marvanek, C. Ticehurst, J. Wallace, and M. Hasan. 2016. “Impact of climate change on floodplain inundation and hydrological connectivity between wetlands and rivers in a tropical river catchment.” Hydrol. Processes 30 (10): 1574–1593. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.10714.
Karmaoui, A., S. F. Balica, and M. Messouli. 2016. “Analysis of applicability of flood vulnerability index in Pre-Saharan region, a pilot study to assess flood in Southern Morocco.” Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss. 2: 1–24. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2016-96.
Kaspersen, P. S., and K. Halsn. 2017. “Integrated climate change risk assessment : A practical application for urban flooding during extreme precipitation.” Clim. Serv. 6: 55–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2017.06.012.
Kayulayula, F., and Z. Banda. 2015. The role of contextual factors in flood impact vulnerability in the context of climate change: Case study of Ndirande and South Lunzu Blantyre city, 1–71. Enschede, Netherlands: Univ. of Twente Faculty of Geo-Information and Earth Observation (ITC).
Kissi, A. E., G. A. Abbey, K. Agboka, and A. Egbendewe. 2015. “Quantitative assessment of vulnerability to flood hazards in downstream area of Mono Basin, South-Eastern Togo : Yoto District.” J. Geographic Inform. Syst. 7 (6): 607–619. https://doi.org/10.4236/jgis.2015.76049.
Kusratmoko, E., K. Marko, and A. Elfeki. 2016. “Spatial modelling of flood inundation case study of Pesangggrahan Floodplain, Jakarta, Indonesia.” J. Geogr. Environ. Earth Sci. Int. 5 (3): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.9734/JGEESI/2016/23524.
Lee, J. S., and H. I. Choi. 2018. “Comparison of flood vulnerability assessments to climate change by construction frameworks for a composite indicator.” Sustainability 10 (3): 768. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030768.
Lujala, P., H. Lein, and R. Rosvoldaune. 2014. “Quantifying vulnerability to flooding induced by climate change: The case of Verdal, Norway.” Nor. Geogr. Tidsskr. 68 (1): 34–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/00291951.2013.870600.
Miladan, N., F. Ariani, S. N. I. Pertiwi, R. Setiawan, and K. N. Handayani. 2019. “Land use vulnerability towards the flood risk in Surakarta City.” MATEC Web Conf. 280: 01011. https://doi.org/10.1051/matecconf/201928001011.
Munyai, R. B., A. Musyoki, and N. S. Nethengwe. 2001. “An assessment of flood vulnerability and adaptation: A case study of Hamutsha-Muungamunwe village, Makhado municipality.” Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies 11 (2): 1–8.
Munyai, R. B., A. Musyoki, and N. S. Nethengwe. 2019. “An assessment of flood vulnerability and adaptation: A case study of Hamutsha-Muungamunwe village, Makhado municipality.” Jàmbá 11 (2): 692. https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v11i2.692.
Nasiri, H., and S. Shahmohammadi-kalalagh. 2013. “Flood vulnerability index as a knowledge base for flood risk assessment in urban area.” J. Novel App. Sci. 2 (8): 269–272.
NIDM (National Institute of Disaster Management). 2014. Uttarakhand disaster 2013. New Delhi, India: NIDM.
Nie, W., B. F. Zaitchik, M. Rodell, S. V. Kumar, M. C. Anderson, and C. Hain. 2018. “Groundwater withdrawals under drought: Reconciling GRACE and land surface models in the United States high plains aquifer.” Water Resour. Res. 54 (8): 5282–5299. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017WR022178.
Ologunorisa, T. E. 2004. “An assessment of flood vulnerability zones in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.” Int. J. Environ. Stud. 61 (1): 31–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020723032000130061.
Onyutha, C., H. Tabari, A. Rutkowska, P. Nyeko-Ogiramoi, and P. Willems. 2016. “Comparison of different statistical downscaling methods for climate change rainfall projections over the Lake Victoria basin considering CMIP3 and CMIP5.” J. Hydro-environ. Res. 12: 31–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jher.2016.03.001.
Park, J., M. S. Kang, and I. Song. 2015. “Assessment of flood vulnerability based on CMIP5 climate projections in South Korea.” J. Am. Water Resourc. Assoc. 51 (3): 859–876. https://doi.org/10.1111/jawr.12283.
Parth Sarthi, P., S. Ghosh, and P. Kumar. 2015. “Possible future projection of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) with the evaluation of model performance in coupled model inter-comparison project phase 5 (CMIP5).” Global Planet. Change 129: 92–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.03.005.
Persson, G., L. Bärring, E. Kjellström, G. Strandberg, and M. Rummukainen. 2007. Climate indices for vulnerability assessments. SMHI Reporst Metereology and Climatology No. 111. Norrköping, Sweden: Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.
Prasad, N. N. R., and P. Narayanan. 2016. “Vulnerability assessment of flood-affected locations of Bangalore by using multi-criteria evaluation.” Ann. Gis 22 (2): 151–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/19475683.2016.1144649.
Pricope, N. G., J. N. Halls, L. M. Rosul, and C. Hidalgo. 2019. “Residential flood vulnerability along the developed North Carolina, USA coast: High resolution social and physical data for decision support.” Data Brief 24: 103975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2019.103975.
Rehman, S., M. Sahana, H. Hong, and H. Sajjad. 2019. “A systematic review on approaches and methods used for flood vulnerability assessment : Framework for future.” Nat. Hazards 96: 975–998. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-018-03567-z.
Rezaee, L. Z. 2013. “Mapping flood vulnerabilities.”
Rimba, A. B., M. D. Setiawati, A. B. Sambah, and F. Miura. 2017. “Physical flood vulnerability mapping applying geospatial techniques in Okazaki City, Aichi prefecture, Japan.” Urban Sci. 1 (1): 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci1010007.
Sadeghi-Pouya, A., J. Nouri, N. Mansouri, and A. Kia-Lashaki. 2017. “An indexing approach to assess flood vulnerability in the western coastal cities of Mazandaran, Iran.” Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct. 22: 304–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2017.02.013.
Sayers, P. B., M. Horritt, E. C. Penning-Rowsell, and A. McKenzie. 2015. Climate change risk assessment 2017 projections of future flood risk in the UK. London: Committee on Climate Change.
Shrestha, S., M. Khatiwada, M. S. Babel, and K. Parajuli. 2014. “Impact of climate change on river flow and hydropower production in Kulekhani Hydropower Project of Nepal.” Environ. Processes 1 (3): 231–250. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40710-014-0020-z.
Sitaula, B., S. Čadro, and O. Žurovec, 2017. “Quantitative assessment of vulnerability to climate change in rural municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Sustainability 9 (7): 1208. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071208.
Temperatures, S. 2011. “Flood vulnerability in an urban context has been widely examined and a wide range of indicators have been suggested by researchers from various perspectives. Different aspects of vulnerability from social to physical have been considered. Table 6 2 pr.” 195–200.
Teng, J., A. J. Jakeman, J. Vaze, B. F. W. Croke, D. Dutta, and S. Kim. 2017. “Flood inundation modelling: A review of methods, recent advances and uncertainty analysis.” Environ. Modell. Software 90: 201–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2017.01.006.
US Energy Information Administration. 2017. “Flood Vulnerability Assessment Map.” (January 2008).
Villordon, M. B. B. 2015. “Community-based flood vulnerability index for urban flooding : Understanding social vulnerabilities and risks.” Docteur en sciences, Civil Engineering Dept, Université Nice Sophia Antipolis.
Wang, L., S. Guo, X. Hong, D. Liu, and L. Xiong. 2017. “Projected hydrologic regime changes in the Poyang Lake Basin due to climate change.” Front. Earth Sci. 11 (1): 95–113. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-016-0580-5.
Yalcin, G., and Z. Akyurek, Z. 2004. “Analysing flood vulnerable areas with multicriteria evaluation.” Geo-Imagery Bridging Continents, XXth ISPRS Congress, 12–23. ISPRS.
Žurovec, O., S. Čadro, and B. Sitaula. 2017. “Quantitative assessment of vulnerability to climate change in rural municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Sustainability 9 (7): 1208. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9071208.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 24 • Issue 4 • October 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 22, 2019
Accepted: Apr 1, 2020
Published online: Jul 17, 2020
Published in print: Oct 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Dec 17, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.