News: The District Flood Severity Index (DFSI) has been developed by researchers from IIT Delhi and IIT Gandhinagar.
About District Flood Severity Index (DFSI)
- It is to provide a comprehensive, data-driven tool to assess the impact of floods at the district level across India.
- DFSI helps by measuring both the size of floods and their impact on people’s lives.
- DFSI utilises annual flood data from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), collected since 1967, which primarily covers large-scale riverine floods.
- Key Parameters Used:
- Mean duration (in days) of flood events
- Percentage of district area historically flooded
- Total deaths caused by floods
- Number of people injured
- District population
- Impact-Based Approach: DFSI focuses on the human impact displacement, injuries, and deaths, providing a more holistic view of flood severity.
- Significance: DFSI can guide disaster management planning, prioritize resource allocation, and encourage better data collection at finer spatial scales.
Key Findings of the District Flood Severity Index (DFSI)
- Patna ranks highest on the DFSI due to its high population density, significant flood-affected areas, and human impact, despite fewer flood events.
- Thiruvananthapuram recorded the most flood events (231+), but doesn’t appear in the top 30 on DFSI, showing that frequency alone doesn’t determine severity.
- Assam districts like Dhemaji, Kamrup, and Nagaon feature prominently due to frequent and impactful flooding.
- Urban flooding, often caused by poor planning, differs from riverine flooding in rural areas, requiring tailored responses.
