Flood risk mapping is a vital tool for effective flood disaster management, enabling policymakers to identify vulnerable zones and allocate resources efficiently. However, research often prioritizes major rivers, neglecting minor rivers, particularly in India, where frequent floods are poorly managed. Factors include floodplain encroachment, climate change, weak inter-agency coordination, limited use of geospatial technologies, such as Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS), and poor enforcement of regulations. An integrated approach combining structural measures (e.g., embankments) and non-structural measures (e.g., floodplain zoning, land use policies, and community awareness programs) is critical to minimize flood damage. This study employs multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) tools to integrate diverse environmental datasets, including geophysical factors (e.g., slope, elevation, drainage density, rainfall) and socio-economic parameters (e.g., population density, health infrastructure, illiteracy, and land use). Results reveal that 26.94% of the area is at high flood risk, with 6.71% under very high risk, requiring immediate intervention. The flood risk map achieved a high validation accuracy with an Area Under the Curve (AUC) 0.92, confirming its reliability. This research emphasizes the importance of focusing on minor rivers and employing advanced decision-making tools to strengthen flood resilience. The findings further offer implications for forest engineering (e.g., watershed restoration, slope stabilization), land use regulation, and soil–water management, thereby supporting sustainable disaster preparedness and planning in understudied regions.
Islam et al. (Tue,) studied this question.