Jour. Geol. Soc.

India (2024) 100 (12) : 1713-1720

https://doi.org/10.17491/jgsi/2024/174043

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Flood Reduction and Prevention Possibilities in the Flood Plains:

A Study of the Varuna River Basin in the Flood Plain of the
Ganga River, Uttar Pradesh, India
Mallikarjun Mishra1,3*, V.A.V. Raman2 and K.N. Prudhvi Raju3
1
Department of Geography, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack - 753 003, India
2
Department of Geography, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, University of Delhi, New Delhi - 110 017, India
3
Department of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221 005, India
*E-mail: mallikarjungeog@ravenshawuniversity.ac.in

Received: 1 December 2023 / Revised form Accepted: 10 February 2024

© 2024 Geological Society of India, Bengaluru, India

ABSTRACT reported flood events globally which caused property damage in

Floods are a recurring phenomenon in the floodplain region of excess of $50 million. Floods account for 30% of all natural
the Ganga River largely caused by several floodplain tributaries. disasters worldwide (EMDAT 2018, 2019; World Bank – World
One such tributary of the Ganga in its floodplain is the 225 km Development Indicators 2019). According to Scheuren et al. (2008),
long monsoon-fed Varuna River. Using high-resolution Google flood occurrence in the world has increased nearly ten-fold over a 45–
earth satellite images, 662 tals (local word for large natural ponds), year period, from 20 events in 1960 to 190 events in 2005.
and 15383 other smaller ponds/ tanks (natural and man-made), Furthermore, in terms of both human casualties and property damage,
were identified and delineated. The tals and ponds/tanks occupy flooding is considered as the world’s most costly type of natural disaster
430 km2 and 93 km2 respectively, within the 3141 km2area of the (ESA, 2004).
Varuna River basin. Based on the areas and approximate water India is one of the worst flood-affected countries in the world
depths that were averaged from field measurements at selected second only to Bangladesh, accounting for one fifth of all flood deaths
tals and ponds/tanks, the total water-holding capacity of all these world-wide. According to Baplu and Sinha (2005), about 40 million
water bodies is estimated to be as much as 57% (1140 million cubic hectares, or nearly 1/8th of India’s geographical area is flood prone.
metres) of the total surface water runoff of the basin. In spite of Furthermore, despite ongoing flood-control efforts in India, flood
such a large water-holding capacity within these tals and ponds/ damages and flood-affected areas have increased overtime (Sinha,
tanks, floods are still an almost annual phenomenon in the Varuna 2008). One of the main causes for floods in India is that the majority
basin because (i) water is not allowed to accumulate in the tals and of Indian rivers have high average discharges (Sakthivadivel and
(ii)the ponds/tanks have shrunk and/or silted up, reducing their Raghupathy, 1978; Garde and Kothyari, 1990).
volume. Deepening by desilting of tals and ponds/tanks can be taken The Ganga plains experience large floods almost every year,
up by engaging the local labourers through the government-funded especially during monsoon season, for a variety of reasons including
rural employment guarantee schemes. The majority of the village over bank flow, river bank breaching, and water logging in low lying
tals and ponds/tanks can be used for pisciculture in order to areas. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in India
generate development funds. prepared a report on the extent of damage caused by floods/heavy
rains from 1953 to 2016 (nidm.gov.in/PDF/guidelines/floods.pdf).
Keywords: Ganga Floodplains, Varuna River, Tals, Ponds/Tanks, Flood damage in Bihar from 1953 to 2019 is reported in the flood
Flood Control, Flood Prevention Possibilities hazard atlas prepared by National Remote Sensing Centre in 2020
(https://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/pdf/Flood-Hazard-Atlas-Bihar.pdf).
INTRODUCTION Due to impending climate change and expected heavy rains, the
Floodplains of large rivers with rich alluvial soils and copious flood risk is expected to increase in future. Although the National
amounts of water availability support high density of population, Remote Sensing Centre has produced flood-hazard atlases for
high concentration of agriculture and associated transport network, several states including Andhra Pradesh (2022), Assam (2011 and
infrastructure and industries. Floodplains are generally vulnerable to 2016), Bihar (2020), Odisha (2019), Uttar Pradesh (2022) and West
flooding. However, flood losses are minimal in developed countries Bengal (2022), detailed maps of flood-prone areas, particularly
which have proper forecasting, flood control, and flood mitigation floodplains of large rivers are lacking in India. However, detailed
measures in place. On the other hand in developing countries such as flood-prone area maps for some discrete areas along the Ganga
India, the losses are enormous due to the absence, deficiency or River were created by several authors (Tripathi et al., 2022; Mishra
inefficiency of proper flood management measures. Floods accounted et al., 2022; Das and Sar, 2020; Mohan et al., 2011). It is important to
for 47 percent of all weather-related disasters from 1995 to 2015 note here that money spent on disaster-preparedness is more
and affected more people than due to any other disaster during cost-effective than money spent on post-disaster relief and
that time period (Verwey et al., 2017). In 2018, there were 4960 reconstruction (Hawley et al., 2012).

0016-7622/2024-100-12-1713/$ 1.00 © GEOL. SOC. INDIA

 Flood prevention measures such as the construction of high dams, of tals and ponds/tanks were demarcated through visual appreciation.
barrages, embankments, flood walls, dredging, rainwater harvesting, As the data used is of 1m resolution, the features are clear enough and
construction of reservoirs and canals, river training and interlinking, the data is stable without pixelation to enlargements up to 1:200 scale.
afforestation, and soil conservation practices suggested by Sinha (2008, All the vector data were digitised into KMZ (Keyhole Markup
2009) are expensive and time consuming to implement for large Language Zipped) files, which are actually compressed version of KML
river basins, particularly in a developing country like India. Dams and (Keyhole Markup Language) files. These files were then opened in
barrages are also not feasible in the low-lying plains like the Varuna Global Mapper software and were given projection and saved as shape
River basin. Any measures taken to prevent or reduce flooding must (.shp) files. The shape files were then processed and composed in
be both cost-effective, eco-friendly and easily implementable. ArcGIS software. Cartosat-10m Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data
There is voluminous literature published on floods, but it is is used to show the general relief of the Varuna basin. There are several
dominantly either on listing of problems, causes of flooding, methods of mapping the water bodies (tals and ponds/tanks) and
suggestions on what should be done and what measures are to be wetlands within the floodplains. There are many automatic water
taken, etc. Sinha (op cit) discussed about river control and flood bodies’ extraction methods with the help of spectral indices using
management approaches in the Ganga plains. The majority of flood remote sensing data sets. Most notable water indices are—Normalized
studies focused on extreme rainfall and floods (Sinha and Jain, 1998; Difference Water Index (NDWI) (McFeeters, 1996; Gao, 1996;
Kale, 2003), suitability of embankments to prevent floods (Sinha, Chowdary et al, 2008; Ji et al., 2009; Campos et al., 2012; Panigrahy
2008), breaching of banks, over bank flow, river bank erosion, silting et al., 2012); Modified Normalized Water Index (MNDWI) (Xu, 2006;
of river beds and spilling (Mahapatra and Singh, 2003), and a few Panigrahy et al., 2012; Feyisa et al., 2014; Acharya et al., 2018),
addressing heavy discharges of water and sediment as a cause of floods. Normalized Difference Pond Index (NDPI) (Lacaux et al., 2007; Soti
Some studies focused on flood prevention by utilizing the existing et al., 2009; Ji et al., 2009; Li et al., 2016), Water Ratio Index (WRI)
topographic features. Many previous studies emphasised the role of (Shen and Li, 2010), Automated Water Extraction Index (AWEInsh)
floodplain wetlands in mitigating flood hazards (Bengtson and (Feyisa et al., 2014; Acharya et al., 2018), New Water Index (NWI)
Padmanabhan, 1999; Kotze, 2000; Morris et al., 2003; Acreman and (Li et al., 2016); Land Surface Water Index (LSWI) (Kwak et al.,
Miller, 2006; Williams et al., 2012; Singh et al., 2021). Using the 2015). Two of these indices — NDWI and MNDWI — were used in
Varuna River basin as an example, the tals (large, moderately deep this study.
basin-like ponds locally called as tals) and smaller natural ponds and Singh and Sinha (2021) used Landsat data to map the wetlands
man-made tanks were mapped and their capacity to hold rain run-off within the Ramganga river basin (23,206 Km2), which is also a
is estimated. This study also emphasizes the need for deepening/ floodplain tributary of Ganga like the Varuna basin, and found 3226
desilting of tals and ponds/tanks in order to increase their water-holding wetlands. Pekel et al. (2016) prepared water body data sets from
capacity so that floods in the Varuna River basin can be reduced and/ 30m Landsat data for the entire world. In BHUVAN—https://
or prevented. Flood prevention using this method will have a few indiawris.gov.in/wris/#/home–website, there is water body data set for
direct economic benefits such as generating daily-wage employment the entire India. All these data sets are derived from digital analysis of
and providing opportunities for pisciculture to generate income. moderate to coarse resolution satellite data. However, in the present
study all the tals and ponds/tanks were mapped through on-screen
STUDY AREA digitisation over very high spatial resolution (1x1 m) satellite data
The Varuna River is one of the many rain-fed and non-perennial and their average depths were estimated based on field measurements
floodplain tributaries of the Ganga with a basin area of 3141km2 in at some of the selected water bodies in order to obtain accurate
the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (Fig.1). The study area is located in information on their water-holding capacity.
the Middle Ganga Plain. The Varuna River (25°42'24"N, 82°2'45.12"E)
originates at 117m amsl near Mau Aima town. With two major Tals and Ponds/Tanks in the Study Area
tributaries, one of 137 km long Basuhi and another of 71 km long There are 662 tals occupying about 430 Km2 (13.68 % of total
Morwa joining it, the Varuna flows over an extremely gentle gradient basin) area in the Varuna river basin (of 3141 Km2) (Fig.2). The tals
of 0.21 m/km for 225 km before decanting into the Ganga near Varanasi are surrounded by human habitations/villages. The tals have no
city at 65m amsl (Fig.1). Gentle gradient is one of the reasons for particular shape and are mostly polygonal in plan and are somewhat
sluggish river flow and eventual flooding in the basin area during flat-floored. They are 3-4 km long and are 2 to 5 m deep on an average.
prolonged and heavy rains. For instance, large tracts of Varuna basin Not all the tals are measured for their depth. Only two tals were
was marooned due to heavy monsoon rains in 2013, 2016 and 2019. measured with ranging rod and measuring tape. They are not uniformly
The Varuna River floodplain, like the rest of the floodplains of the deep, but rather have an irregularly sloping undulating surface toward
Ganga River, is dotted with numerous tals and ponds/tanks. The plains the centre. The central parts of the tals are usually flat-floored and are
of River Varuna exhibit porous nature of surface and shallow sub- mostly occupied by agricultural fields. Figure 2 shows the image of a
surface alluvial formations. The average annual rainfall in the area is pond (Umran tal in the higher reaches of the Varuna River basin),
about 998 mm, out of which the major part (around 800mm) is received flood levels and apartly-generalised cross profile.
during the four-month (June–September) of monsoon period. Although The tals receive runoff from the surrounding higher margins and
floods occur almost every year during rainy season in the Varuna River from the local streams. In fact the inner margins and floors of almost
basin, mostly inundating the agricultural fields and several towns within all the tals are partly or fully occupied by agricultural fields, which
the basin, they are not documented separately and clubbed in with the are mostly used to raise paddy crop during rainy season and wheat
Ganga floods. The major part of inundation during rainy season in crop during winter. The approximate average area of agricultural fields
the basin is caused by overbank flow and waterlogging in the low- within the tals is about seventy five percent. Waters that enter these
lying areas, particularly during peak rainfall events. tals are not allowed to stay within them and get drained out through a
number of flood channels (to prevent flooding of fields within the tals
DATA AND METHODOLOGY (Fig.2). Some of the agricultural fields within these tals are raised
Varuna drainage system, basin boundary, tals and ponds/tanks were above the floors of the tals to prevent flooding of the fields. In the
manually digitized on-screen using the high spatial resolution (1x1m) process of creating such elevated agricultural fields 2-3 m deep (from
satellite images available on Google Earth platform. The boundaries the floor level) and 2-3 m wide trenches are dug up and the dug-up

1714 JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.100, DEC. 2024

Fig. 1. The Varuna River Sub-Basin within Ganga river basin in India and the Varuna river system with some important locations within and
around it (top). Digital Elevation Model of Varuna River Catchment from Cartosat 10m data (bottom).

material is used to raise the level of fields (see profile in figure 2 at the network of channels are dug up rimmed by 1-2m high earthen
right bottom). This way the farmers derived an advantage of having embankments to train the water to flow ultimately out through outlet
their fields raised above the level of floors of tals and at the same time streams/flood channels. A few ponds/tanks are created within the tals
water that collects into the trenches, is used for irrigating the crops. to store water for a longer period till March-April. Very rarely the tals
Additional water if any after filling up of trenches flows out through are filled to their full capacity, for, the water is channelised to drain
natural and/or artificially dug flood channels. In almost all the tals a out. The network of trenches and channels are so designed (Fig.2)

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.100, DEC. 2024 1715

Fig. 2. Tals within the Varuna River basin (top); Some details within and around the Umran tal (bottom top left) showing different flood levels
(closed blue lines); Google Earth Image of the Umran tal and partly generalised cross profile across (Line A-B) the Umran tal showing fields,
embankments and trenches (bottom right); Major and minor flood channels within Dain tal (bottom left) (Mishra et al., 2019).

that water after reaching up to the level 1 (inner most line in blue in drain out. This network of minor (and major) channels within
Fig.2) automatically flows out through outlet streams/channels (Fig.2). these tals (Fig.2 bottom left) are described in detail by Mishra et al.
Thus, in most of the tals, a very efficient network of major and minor (2019).
flood channels/trenches are created to prevent flooding of agricultural This is one of the flood prevention/reduction measures and as a
fields present within the tals (Fig.2). The minor channels are linked to result the agricultural fields within the tals rarely face flood problem.
the major channels, which drain the water out of the tals. The water But this flood-prevention method being adopted by farmers in the
which collects into the minor channels/trenches does not completely tals, causes flood at other places, especially in the downstream densely

1716 JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.100, DEC. 2024

built-up urban areas; more specifically near the confluence of the indices. Further, the shapes of water bodies derived digitally through
Varuna River at Varanasi. water indices are quite different from the actual horizontal dimensions
There are around 15383 ponds/tanks (Fig.3a) scattered within the of water indices (Fig.3 e & f). Of course, the number of water bodies
basin occupying around 93 Km2 accounting for 2.96% of the total and their proper shapes will come true and better when data sets of
area of the basin. About 90% of these are village ponds/tanks and the immediate post rainy season are used. In the present case, post rainy
rest are privately owned and are mostly used for irrigation purposes. (monsoon) season couldn’t be obtained.
Figure 4 shows the several sizes of ponds/tanks in terms of areal spread, A first order estimation indicated that the total water-holding
and images of some representative tanks as examples showing the capacity of tals in the basin is 860 million cubic metres (MCM)
general status of ponds/tanks within the Varuna basin with reduced considering their cumulative area of 460 km2 and with an average
spread and depth due to encroachment and siltation. Most of the ponds/ depth of 2m. Similarly, with the cumulative area of 93 km2 and an
tanks are rimmed by 1-2m high embankments and a few of the average depth of 3m, the total water-holding capacity of all other
embankments of the ponds/tanks are lined by brick and cement (Fig.4J). smaller ponds/tanks in the basin is estimated to be 279 MCM. Given
A few tanks have inlets and outlets for water to enter and exit. It has that the total surface water potential of the 8,61,452 km2 area of the
also been attempted in the present study to derive water bodies (ponds/ Ganga Basin in India is 525000MCM (https://nmcg.nic.in/
tanks) from digital remote sensing data of Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8, hydrology.aspx; https://agricoop.nic.in/sites/default/files/
using NDWI and MNDWI indices (Fig.3b, c & d). The details of Statistical%20Information%20on%20Rainfed%20Area.pdf), the
satellite data and the results of digital derivation are presented in surface water potential of the Varuna River basin (3141 km2) is
table 1. The number of ponds extracted through digital processing is calculated to be 2000 MCM. That means tals and ponds/tanks within
far less than the number of manually on-screen digitised ponds/tanks. the Varuna basin can hold 1140 MCM of water, leaving about 860
The dry and partially dry ponds are not digitally discernible by water MCM for free flow. At this rate, the amount of water contributed by

Fig.3 (a) Ponds/Tanks derived through manual on-screen digitization from Google Earth Image of 1m spatial resolution data; (b) Normalized
Difference Water Index (NDWI) derived Ponds/Tanks using Sentinel-2/MSI (10m); (c) Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI)
derived Ponds/Tanks using Landsat-8/OLI (30m); (d) Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) derived Ponds/Tanks using Landsat-8/OLI
(30m); (e and f) Sample ponds showing variations in the number and shapes of ponds.

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.100, DEC. 2024 1717

Fig.4. Map showing sizes of ponds/tanks (top) and some sample ponds/tanks from within the Varuna basin from Google Earth Image (bottom).

1718 JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.100, DEC. 2024

 Table 1. Number of Water bodies derived/delineated from different sets of Remote Sensing data

Water Index Formula Satellite/Sensor Month/Year Resolution No. of Total Area

of data (m) ponds (km2)
NDWI (Green-NIR)/(Green+ NIR) Landsat-8/OLI April, 2017 30 767 1.14
MNDWI (Green-MIR)/(Green+ MIR) Landsat-8/OLI April, 2017 30 1657 3.21
NDWI (Green-NIR)/(Green+ NIR) Sentinel-2/MSI Dec., 2018 10 4556 6.75
Present Study Manual on-screen Digitization Google Earth Image April, 2017 1 15883 93.00

total annual average rainfall in the Varuna basin, if directed into or University for providing laboratory facilities to carry out this work.
allowed to remain within the tals and ponds/tanks after adequate One of the authors (Mallikarjun Mishra) is thankful to University
deepening or desilting, should result in no flooding in the region, Grants Commission, New Delhi for awarding a Senior Research
particularly in Varanasi city. Of course, at the confluence of the Varuna Fellowship (SRF). The authors gratefully acknowledge the Google
with the Ganga, the flooding is severe due to the backwaters of the Earth for making available high-resolution satellite data and mapping
Ganga approximately upto an altitude of 70m amsl. tools.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION References

With extreme rainfall events expected to increase due to predicted Acharya, T.D., Subedi, A., and Lee, D.H. (2018) Evaluation of Water Indices
climate change, seasonal floods are likely to be severe in the Ganga Indices for Surface Water Extraction in a Landsat 8 Scene of Nepal.
floodplains. With a network of trenches and channels, the tals lost Sensors, v.18(8), pp.1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18082580
Acreman, M. C. and Miller, F. M. (2006) Impact Assessment of Wetlands:
their flood-balancing capacity and as a consequence the downstream
Focus on Hydrological and Hydrogeological Issues, R & D Technical
areas are inundated. In fact, floods can be avoided in the downstream
Report W6-091/TR1, Bristol: Environment Agency.
areas if water is allowed to remain within tals up to at least level 1 Baplu, G.V. and Sinha, R. (2005) GIS in Flood Hazard Mapping: A Case Study
(Fig.2). If the tals’ free spaces are dug up deeper, the water can be of Kosi River Basin, India. GIS Development Weekly, 1, 1-3.
concentrated in a smaller area, reducing the surface spread of water Bengtson, M.L., and Padmanabhan, G., (1999) A Hydrological Model for
and its evaporation and percolation. This measure will not only control Assessing the Influence of Wetlands on Flood Hydrographs in the Red
and reduce flooding, but it will also retain water in the tals until the River Basin: Development and Application. https://www.ndsu.edu/
next rainy season. Another advantage would be revenue generation fileadmin/wrri/technicalreport/A_Hydrologic_Model.pdf Accessed on 08/
by allowing the water-filled tals to be used for pisciculture. Similarly, 08/2022.
Chowdary et al. (2008) Assessment of surface and sub-surface waterlogged
the ponds/tanks must be restored to their original dimensions by
areas in irrigation command areas of Bihar state using remote sensing
desilting to increase their water holding capacity. and GIS. Agricultural Water Management, v.95, pp.754–766
Deepening agriculture-free parts (free from agricultural fields) of Compos, J.C., Sillero, N. and Brito, J.C. (2012) Normalized difference water
tals and desilting of ponds/tanks can be taken up under Mahatma indexes have dissimilar performances in detecting seasonal and permanent
Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) water in the Sahara-Sahel transition zone. Jour. Hydrol., v.464-465, pp.438-
scheme using local rural workforce. MNREGA in India is enacted to 446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.07.042
provide supplementary wage-employment to the rural poor through Dash, P. and Sar, J. (2020) Identification and validation of potential flood
public works. The objective of this Act is to ensure at least some hazard area using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis and satellite data-
derived water index. Jour. Flood Risk Management, v.13, e12620. https:/
minimum days of employment in the form of manual labour to every
/doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12620
household in the rural areas. This Act provides a legal guarantee for EMDAT (2018) Total economic damage (EMDAT (2019)): 1900-2017;
at least 100 days of employment every year at minimum wages to at EMDAT (2019): OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database. Brussels
least one able-bodied person in every rural poor household. This way, (Belgium): Universit_eCatholique de Louvain.
there are two advantages—flood problem can be prevented or reduced, EMDAT (2019) OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database. Brussels
and rural employment is generated. For example, the area of tals and (Belgium): Universit_eCatholique de Louvain.
ponds/tanks in the present case together measure 52300 hectares. If ESA (2004) Space and public safety, civil protection assistance. Download
twenty five percent i.e., 10750 hectares (out of a total area of 43000 web page from http://www.esa.int/esaeo/SEMQFF3VQUD environment
_0. html, accessed on 5 August. 2019.
hectares) of open free areas of tals are to be deepened and the entire
Fesiya, G.L. et al. (2014) Automated Water Extraction Index: A New technique
area of ponds (9300 hectares) is to be desilted to a depth of just one
for surface water mapping using Landsat imagery. Remote Sens. Environ.,
metre, it would generate approximately 2.175 million man days of v.140, pp.23-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2013.08.029
work. And, if twenty five percent of area of tals and the entire area of Gao, B.C. (1996) NDWI – a normalized difference water index for remote
all the ponds/tanks are used to raise fish, it is possible to generate an sensing of vegetation liquid water from space. Remote Sens. Environ.,
approximate income of about 144 crores of rupees per annum. v.58, pp.257–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(96)00067-3
This exercise is just a pointer towards the potential of natural tals Garde, R.J. and Kothyari, U.C. (1990) Flood estimation in Indian catchments,
and existing ponds/tanks to help preventing or reducing floods and to Jour. Hydrol., v.113(1-4), pp.135–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-
generate daily wage employment and income. The floodplains of the 1694(90)90171-S
Hawley, K., Moench, M. and Sabbag, L. (2012) Understanding the Economics
Ganga River in general have an equal presence of tals, ponds/tanks
of Flood Risk Reduction: A Preliminary Analysis. Institute for Social and
and wetlands and adopting this approach may be of some help in Environmental Transition-International Boulder, CO, USA, pp. 1-51.
reducing/preventing floods to a great extent and in generating daily Accessed on 30/01/2023 https://www.gfdrr.org/sites/default/files/
wage employment and income to the local people. Of course, absolute publication/Understanding_the_Economics_of_ Flood_Risk_Reduction.
flood prevention in flood-prone areas is not possible or desirable, and pdf
some calculated acceptance of “living with floods” is necessary India Water Resource Information System (2022) accessed on 21/08/2022
(Verwey et al., 2017). from https://indiawris.gov.in/wris/#/home
Ji, L., Zhang, L. and Wylie, B. (2009) Analysis of dynamic thresholds for the
normalized difference water index. Photogrammetric Eng. Rem. Sens.,
Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to the Head,
v.75, pp.1307–1317. https://doi.org/10.14358/PERS.75.11.1307
Department of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.100, DEC. 2024 1719
Kale, V.S. (2003) Geomorphic Effects of Monsoon Floods on Indian Rivers. Sakthivadivel, R. and Raghupathy, A. (1978) Frequency analysis of floods in
In: Mirza, M.M.Q., Dixit, A., Nishat, A. (eds) Flood Problem and some Indian Rivers, Hydro. Rev., v.4, pp.57-67.
Management in South Asia. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/ Scheuren, J.M., Le Polain de Waroux O. and Below R., et al. (2008) Annual
978-94-017-0137-2_3 Disaster Statistical Review Numbers and Trends: Collaborating Centre
Kotze D. (2000) The contribution of wetlands to the attenuation of floods. for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Brussels, Belgium.
Compiled for the Mondi Wetlands Project, South Africa. Shen L. and Li C. (2010) Water Body Extraction from Landsat ETM+ Imagery
Kwak, Y., Arifuzzanman, B., and Iwami, Y., (2015) Prompt Proxy Mapping of using Adaboost algorithm. Proceedings of 18th International Conference
Flood Damaged Rice Fields Using MODIS-Derived Indices. Remote Sens., on Geoinformatics, Beijing, China; pp.1-4.
v.7, pp.15969–15988; doi:10.3390/rs71215805 Singh, M. and Sinha, R. (2021) A basin-scale inventory and hydrodynamics
Lacaux, J.P. et al. (2007) Classification of ponds from high-spatial resolution of floodplain wetlands based on time-series of remote sensing data. Remote
remote sensing: Application to Rift Valley Fever epidemics in Senegal. Sens. Lett., v.13(1), pp.1-13. https://doi.org/10.1080/2150704X.2021.
Remote Sens. Environ., v.106(1), pp.66–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/ 1980919
j.rse.2006.07.012 Sinha, R. and Jain, V. (1998) Flood Hazards of North Bihar Rivers, Indo-
Li, Y. et al., (2016) An index and approach for water extraction using Landsat- Gangetic Plains. In Mem. Geol. Soc. India, no.41, pp.27-52.
OLI data. Internat. Jour. Rem. Sens., v.37(16), pp. 3611-3635 https:// Sinha, R. (2008) Kosi: Rising Water, Dynamic Channels and Human Disasters,
doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2016.1201228 Economic and Political Weekly, v.43 (46), pp.42-46.
Mcfeeters, S.K. (1996) The use of the Normalized Difference Water Index Sinha, R. (2009) Dynamics of a river system-the case of Kosi River in North
(NDWI) in the Delineation of Open Water Features, Internat. Jour. Rem. Bihar, e-Jour. Earth Sci. India, v.2(1), pp.33-45.
Sens., v.17, pp.1425-1432. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431169608948714 Soti, V. et al., (2009). Assessing optical earth observation systems for mapping
Mishra, M., Dugesar, V., and Raju, KNP (2022) Flood Risk and Impact Analysis and monitoring temporary ponds in arid areas. International Jour. Appl.
of Varanasi City Region, India. Jour. Scient. Res., 66(1), pp.22-32. https:/ Earth Observ. Geoinform., v.11(5), pp.344–351. https://doi.org/10.1016/
/doi.org/10.37398/JSR.2022.660103 j.jag.2009.05.005
Mishra et al. (2019) Precision mapping of boundaries of flood plain river Central Water Commission, Ministry of Water Resources. Surface Water
basins using high-resolution satellite imagery: A case studyof the Varuna Resources in River Basins. Accessed on 30/01/2023 from https://
river basin in Uttar Pradesh, India, Jour. Earth Syst. Sci., 128: 105. https:/ agricoop.nic.in/sites/default/files/Statistical%20Information%20on%20
/doi.org/10.1007/s12040-019-1146-1. Rainfed%20Area.pdf
Mohan, K., Kumar, S. and Raju, K.N.P. (2011) Flood Risk Zones: A Mapping Tripathi, G., Pandey, A.C. and Parida, B.R. (2022) Flood Hazard and Risk
Exercise Using Remote Sensing Data and GIS. Jour. Appl. Hydrol., Zonation in North Bihar Using Satellite-Derived Historical Flood Events
v.24(1&2), pp.32-35. and Socio-Economic Data. Sustainability, v.14(3), 1472. https://doi.org/
Mohapatra, P.K. and Singh, R.D. (2003) Flood Management in India. Natural 10.3390/su14031472
Hazards, v.28, pp.131–143. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021178000374 Williams, L., Harrison, S. and O’Hagan, A.M. (2012) The use of wetlands for
Morris, J., et al. (2003) Integrated Washland Management for Flood Defence flood attenuation. Report for AnTaisce by Aquatic Services Unit.
and Biodiversity in 38th Defra Flood and Coastal Management University College Cork, 118p.
Conference, Keele University, 16-18th July, 2003, pp.1-14. Verwey, A., Kerblat, Y., Chia, B., (2017) Flood Risk Management at River
National Disaster Management Authority (2008) Management of Floods. Basin Scale: The Need to Adopt a Proactive Approach (English) in World
Accessed on 30/01/2023 from https://nidm.gov.in/PDF/guidelines/ Bank report on the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery.
floods.pdf Washington DC., World Bank Group. pp. 1-52 access on 30/01/2023,
National Mission for Clean Ganga (2023) Hydrology of Ganga Basin accessed available at https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/flood-risk-
on 30/01/2023 from https://nmcg.nic.in/hydrology.aspx management-river-basin-scale-need-adopt-proactive-approach
NRSC (2020) Flood Hazard Atlas-Bihar-A Geospatial Approach accessed on World Bank –World Development Indicators (2019) Internally displaced
23/01/2023 from https://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/pdf/Flood-Hazard-Atlas- persons, new displacement associated with disasters (number of cases),
Bihar.pdf 1960–2017. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre; http://
Panigrahy et al., (2012) Wetlands of India: Inventory and assessment at 1:50,000 www.internal-displacement.org/
scale using geospatial techniques. Curr. Sci., v.102, pp.852–856. Xu, H. (2006) Modification of normalised difference water index (NDWI) to
Pekel, J.F., Cottam, A., Gorelick, N. et al. (2016) High-resolution mapping of enhance open water features in remotely sensed imagery. Internat. Jour.
global surface water and its long-term changes. Nature, v.540, pp.418– Rem. Sens., v.27, pp.3025–3033. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431160600
422. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature20584 589179

Mallikarjun Mishra received his Ph.D. in K.N. Prudhvi Raju received his PhD in Geography
Geography in 2020 from Banaras Hindu University, from the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra
Varanasi, India. He is currently working as an Pradesh. He served as Assistant Professor (1985-91)
Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, in the Department of Geography, Jamia Millia Islamia
Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, India. Geomorpho- University, New Delhi, Associate Professor (1991-
logy and Applications of Geospatial Technology are 1999) and Professor (1999-2019) in the Department
his fields of specialization. of Geography, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu
University, Varanasi. His areas of specialization are
Geomorphology, Remote Sensing and GIS.

V.A.V. Raman received his Ph.D. in Geography from

University of Delhi. He is currently working as an
Associate Professor in the Department of Geography,
Shaheed Bhagat Singh College, New Delhi, India.
His areas of specialization are Geomorphology,
Remote Sensing and GIS.

1720 JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.100, DEC. 2024