Urban flood vulnerability assessment for Hyderabad city, India

Urban flood is an emerging phenomenon in the developing countries. The present study aims at identifying vulnerable areas prone to flooding in the Hyderabad city, India using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach. The Hyderabad city has witnessed a significant increase in built-up areas and experiences multiple flooding events in the recent years. Several thematic layers such as change in built-up/impervious areas in last two decades, Digital elevation model (DEM), slope, road network and rainfall datasets were collected and analyzed in a GIS-based analytical hierarchical process(AHP) framework to map different vulnerable areas in the city. Moreover, the analysis was performed at ward level (lowest urban administrative unit) to classify different vulnerable zones. The study revealed that nearly 11% of area is under very highly vulnerable followed by 24% of high, 26% of moderate and 39% of area under low vulnerable zones. The segregation of city wards into several vulnerable zones will help policy makers to formulate localized flood mitigation plan and minimize the impacts for a flooding event.