Four Flood Prone Areas of India You Should Know

Out of the total geographical area in India about 45 million hectares is prone to floods.

Flood is a recurring feature during the rainy season in Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. 

Flood also occur along the eastern coastal plains, the valley of Kashmir, the lower reaches of the rivers discharging their water in the Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Khambat.

The Flood Affected Areas in India 

1. The Ganga River Basin

2. The Brahmaputra River Basin

3. The Punjab Haryana Flood Plain

4. The Flood prone Areas of the Coastal Plains

The Ganga River Basin

It is about 8,61,400 square kilometres. 

The Ganga and its tributaries drain the states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The left hand tributaries of Ganga are Sharda,Kali, Gomti, Ghagra, Gandak, kosi and Mahanadi while the right hand tributaries include the Yamuna, Chambal,Sind, Batwa, Ken,Son Damodar. 

Thus, from the mighty Himalayas and the northern peninsular India, the Ganga and its tributaries carry large amount of water.

These river due to heavy rain in the rainy season and melting of snow in the spring season cause heavy flood in the middle and lower reaches of their catchments.

Kosi has been often called as “The Sorrow of Bihar” due to this reason only.

The state of Uttar Pradesh due to Ganga alone contributes about 22% of the flood prone area of the country.

The Brahmaputra River Basin

The maximum discharge of water among the Indian rivers is in the brahmaputra river. 

The Assam valley is considered as the worst flood affected area of India fully stop infect, in Assam, floods are almost an annual feature.

The main cause of flood in the brahmaputra basin are:

• Heavy and torrential rainfall during the rainy season -over 200 centimetre of rainfall is recorded over greater part of it’s middle and lower reaches.

• Silting of the river course due to heavy soil erosion

• Landslides

• Heavy pressure of population

• Shifting cultivation on the surrounding hilly areas

All the above factor collectively result in flooding of west areas end and around the Brahmaputra Valley.

The worst affected area in Assam are majuli which is also india’s largest River Island. 

According to one estimate, about 80 lakh hectares of the total area of Assam is flood prone.

The Punjab Haryana Flood Plain

The Punjab Haryana floodplain falls under the scanty rainfall recording areas of India. 

Although low rainfall, Punjab and Haryana are mostly affected by floods because of the inadequate surface drainage.

In Punjab and Haryana, the rainfall water is waterlogged. 

Consequently the ill drained area are inundated. 

The river like Satluj, Beas and Markanda record floods almost annually. 

The main reasons of floods in Punjab and Haryana are:

• Deforestation in the Lower Himalayas and the Siwalik

• Increase in Soil Erosion in the Upper reaches leading to sitting of River beds

• Construction of Structures in the Bet areas of the Rivers

• Unscientific Land use

• Obstruction of Natural Drainage by the Construction of Roads, Railways and human establishment

Flood Prone Areas of the Coastal Plains

The coastal areas of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Gujarat are included in this region.

The magnitude of floods become serious in the lower reaches of the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri.

The bed of these rivers are shallow which inundate after a heavy rainfall in the Catchments. 

Narmada and Tapi leads to floods at the occurrence of Spring tides.

The total Area under these types is 13.6 percent of the total area and when flooded cause harm to life and property.

Written By: Komal Jha