‘HiFlo-DAT’: A flood hazard event-disaster database for the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalaya

Johnson, Richard, Pandey, Bindhy Wasini, Chand, Kesar, Davies, Ceri, Edwards, Debra, Edwards, Esther, Jeffers, James, King, Kieran, Kuniyal, Jagdish Chandra, Mishra, Himanshu, Phillips, Victoria, Roy, Nikhil, Seviour, Jessica, Sharma, Dev Dutt, Sharma, Pushpanjali, Singh, Harkanchan and Singh, Ram Babu (2025) ‘HiFlo-DAT’: A flood hazard event-disaster database for the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalaya. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction . p. 105336.

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Abstract

Highlights:
• ‘HiFlo-DAT’ (Himalayan Flood Database): Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India
• New world-leading knowledge: 128 floods, 59 locations, 1846-2020 (175 years)
• Increasing flood incidence and losses towards the present
• Vulnerable communities (70% fatalities) associated with construction projects
• Robust method for assembly of disaggregated/ sub-national disaster loss data

Abstract:
‘HiFlo-DAT’ (Himalayan Flood Database) contributes to the disaster risk reduction (DRR) agenda of developing methodologies for the assembly, analysis, and application of disaggregated/ sub-national disaster loss data; here for mountain floods in the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India. The HiFlo-DAT architecture is aligned to international best practice/ local needs. It uses English-language documents, principally newspapers and government reports (1835-2020), and comprises 128 flood events, at 59 locations, over 175 years (1846-2020). This open-access database brings a substantial improvement over existing compilations. Subject to the fidelity of historical event recording, analyses highlight temporal/ process patterns inclusive of flood-rich periods (1890-1900s; 1990s-present: 68% of events), increasing flood occurrence towards the present, the prevalence of rainfall causation (55%), and the dominance of summer monsoon flooding (June-September: 87%). Spatially, of the 59 locations recording floods, 76% record a single event, 24% have two or more events, and four tributaries record 8-14 events. Key flood impact receptors were roads (55 floods), bridges (54 floods and 94 impacts) and vulnerable labourer-migrant communities (70% fatalities and 83% affected) notably associated with construction projects in remote/ exposed locations. Key opportunities for policy and practice development include transference of the HiFlo-DAT methodology across the wider Indian Himalayan Region and trans-boundary basins; multi-disciplinary approaches to corroborate and extend documentary-based databases; improved access to public archive materials; routine integration of historical flood data into DRR/ climate change adaptation management planning and infrastructure development design; and deeper multi-agency partnership to record contemporary flood impacts to provide effective data for current/ future DRR.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	2212-4209
Departments:	Institute of Science and Environment > STEM Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA)
Additional Information:	Dr Richard M. Johnson, Associate Professor in Science and Environment, Institute of Science and Environment, Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA), University of Cumbria, UK. Open access article under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	27 Feb 2025 11:47
Last Modified:	27 Feb 2025 12:00
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8661

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