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

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.