Himalayan flood database for disaster risk reduction: ‘HiFlo-DAT’

Johnson, Richard ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6957-4625 (2025) Himalayan flood database for disaster risk reduction: ‘HiFlo-DAT’. www.cumbria.ac.uk/blog/ . (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Mountain environments and societies continue to experience rapid change, reflecting interconnected stressors of climate variability, habitat degradation, conflict, globalisation, infrastructure development, tourism, urbanisation and population change. An important and concerning consequence of this change is increasing disaster exposure, vulnerability and risk. Amplifying concerns and contributing to an urgent call for action, are complex and contested future climate change trajectories (i.e., temperature, precipitation, and river channel flow shifts). In this context, mountain flood disasters are an issue of particular significance, being a prominent hazard type in the Himalayan Region. More broadly, in response, ongoing international efforts to stem disaster losses, have prioritised the need to assemble disaster occurrence/ loss data and understand past disaster events. More specifically, whilst flood hazard/ disaster databases exist for the Indian Himalaya, they are typically over generalised and incomplete. Instead, more localised and granular information is needed to help implement refined development planning and risk management policies, underpinning improved societal wellbeing and livelihood, both within India but also across trans-boundary basins. Making an important contribution to this policy agenda, is the ‘HiFlo-DAT’ research project in the Kullu District (Himachal Pradesh, India). ‘HiFlo-DAT’ highlights flood-rich periods (1890-1900s; 1990s-present), increasing flood occurrence towards the present, the prevalence of rainfall causation, the dominance of summer monsoon flooding, and repeated flood incidence in a small number of Beas River tributaries. Key flood impact receptors were roads, bridges and vulnerable labourer-migrant communities notably associated with road and hydro-electric power construction projects in remote/ exposed locations.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	www.cumbria.ac.uk/blog/
Publisher:	University of Cumbria Blog
Departments:	Institute of Science and Environment > Forestry and Conservation Centre for National Parks and Protected Areas (CNPPA)
Additional Information:	Online blog post.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	30 Apr 2025 09:04
Last Modified:	02 May 2025 10:00
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8797

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