Multi-Criteria Decision-Based Approach of Flood Susceptibility of Balason River Basin in Darjeeling, West Bengal

Abstract

Floods are one of the most recognized natural hazards that create havoc in society. Flooding involves inundation of a huge tract of area under water owing to heavy rainfall. The occurrence of flooding lays a severe impact upon the agricultural sector. The Balason River basin in Darjeeling district of West Bengal is not an exception in this regard. The basin is one of the most flood-prone areas and involves a lot of loss in crop production and destruction of villages. The present study aims to identify the flood susceptible zones of the district through the application of analytical hierarchy process and geospatial techniques, and also makes an attempt to detect how much settlements and croplands fall within the high susceptible flood prone area so that proper precautionary measures can be taken to minimize the maximum damage.