Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Natural River Hazards: Their Impacts and Mitigation Techniques

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
River Dynamics and Flood Hazards

Part of the book series: Disaster Resilience and Green Growth ((DRGG))

Abstract

Natural hazards occur due to the interactions between extreme natural events and anthropogenic activity that have the potential to inflict damage, disruption, death, or injury. The escalating anthropogenic influence on the natural processes of the fluvial stream has polluted the water, altered the transit capacity due to the increase in suspended loads, and there by leading fluvial hazards. River-related natural hazards are broadly categorized as (a) flooding and (b) lateral erosion. Floods are natural disasters that occur either due to waterlogging and spreading induced by heavy rains or due to collapse of hydraulic structures caused by rising water levels in the river channel. The flood management process in India is extremely complicated due to the influence of numerous socio-hydro climatological elements such as climate change, sea level rise, and socioeconomic dynamics. In this article, the unique geomorphic patterns of three major recent flood-affected sites in India such as Uttarakhand flood in Upper Ganga Valley in June 2013, Kashmir flood in Jhelum River occurred in September 2014, and Chennai flood happened on December 2015 were briefly explained. Consequently, the activities of Indian flood management agencies were also discussed with a focus on current flood management techniques. River bank erosion has long-term implications for human life leading to economic crisis and forced relocation of victims. The alterations in the flow of rivers due to bank erosion have a profound impact on river ecology. The impacts of river bank erosions in four zones of India viz., (a) North West region, (b) central India and Deccan region, (c) Brahmaputra region, and (d) Ganga (Ganges) region were presented in this study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abbas A, Amjath-Babu TS, Kächele H, Usman M, Müller K (2016) An overview of flood mitigation strategy and research support in South Asia: implications for sustainable flood risk management. Int J Sustain Dev World Ecol 23(1):98–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alam A, Bhat MS, Farooq H, Ahmad B, Ahmad S, Sheikh AH (2018) Flood risk assessment of Srinagar city in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Int J Disaster Resil Built Environ 9:114–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali H, Modi P, Mishra V (2019) Increased flood risk in Indian sub-continent under the warming climate. Weather Clim Extremes 25:100212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharjee K, Behera B (2017) Forest cover change and flood hazards in India. Land Use Policy 67:436–448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhuiyan MAH, Islam SM, Azam G (2017) Exploring impacts and livelihood vulnerability of riverbank erosion hazard among rural household along the river Padma of Bangladesh. Environ Syst Res 6(1):1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birkland TA, Burby RJ, Conrad D, Cortner H, Michener WK (2003) River ecology and flood hazard mitigation. Nat Hazar Rev 4(1):46–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bordoloi K, Nikam BR, Srivastav SK, Sahariah D (2020) Assessment of riverbank erosion and erosion probability using geospatial approach: a case study of the Subansiri River, Assam, India. Appl Geomat 12(3):265–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chatterjee S, Mistri B (2013) Impact of river bank erosion on human life: a case study in Shantipur block, Nadia District, West Bengal. Population 66(26.009):7–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaudhuri S, Pandey M, Debnath K, Oliveto G (2022) A comparative study on equilibrium scour volume around circular cylinders in clay-sand mixed cohesive beds, at near threshold velocity of sand–an experimental approach. Water Supply 22:6777–6791. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2022.250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das JD, Dutta T, Saraf AK (2007) Remote sensing and GIS application in change detection of the Barak river channel, NE India. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 35(4):301–312

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das TK, Haldar SK, Sarkar D, Borderon M, Kienberger S, Gupta ID, Kundu S, Guha-Sapir D (2017) Impact of riverbank erosion: a case study. Australas J Disaster Trauma Stud 21(2):73–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Dekaraja D, Mahanta R (2021) Riverbank erosion and migration inter-linkage: with special focus on Assam, India. Environ Syst Res 10(1):1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guchhait SK, Islam A, Ghosh S, Das BC, Maji NK (2016) Role of hydrological regime and floodplain sediments in channel instability of the Bhagirathi River, Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta, India. Phys Geography 37(6):476–510

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gupta AK, Nair SS (2011) Urban floods in Bangalore and Chennai: risk management challenges and lessons for sustainable urban ecology. Curr Sci:1638–1645

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasnat GNT, Kabir MA, Hossain MA (2018) Major environmental issues and problems of South Asia, particularly Bangladesh. In: Handbook of environmental materials management. Springer, pp 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58538-3_7-1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Iqbal S (2010) Flood and erosion induced population displacements: a socio-economic case study in the Gangetic riverine tract at Malda district, West Bengal, India. J Hum Ecol 30(3):201–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Islam A, Guchhait SK (2017) Search for social justice for the victims of erosion hazard along the banks of river Bhagirathi by hydraulic control: a case study of West Bengal, India. Environ Dev Sustain 19(2):433–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jain R, Lodhi AS, Oliveto G, Pandey M (2021) Influence of cohesion on scour at piers founded in clay–sand–gravel mixtures. J Irrig Drain Eng 147(10):04021046

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jain SK, Mani P, Jain SK, Prakash P, Singh VP, Tullos D, Kumar S, Agarwal SP, Dimri AP (2018) A brief review of flood forecasting techniques and their applications. Int J River Basin Manag 16(3):329–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/15715124.2017.1411920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan WA, Sharma RA (2020) Study on flood management in India. J Crit Rev 7(3):1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Kundzewicz ZW, Menzel L (2005) Natural flood reduction strategies–a challenge. Int J River Basin Manag 3(2):125–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martha TR, Roy P, Govindharaj KB, Kumar KV, Diwakar PG, Dadhwal VK (2015) Landslides triggered by the June 2013 extreme rainfall event in parts of Uttarakhand state. India Landslides 12(1):135–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mehta M (2007) Gender matters: lessons for disaster risk reduction in South Asia. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Lalitpur

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mohapatra PK, Singh RD (2003) Flood management in India. In: Flood problem and Management in South Asia. Springer, Berlin, pp 131–143

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pandey M, MdAzamathulla H (2021) Discussion of “gene-expression programming, evolutionary polynomial regression, and model tree to evaluate local scour depth at culvert outlets” by Mohammad Najafzadeh and Ali Reza Kargar. J Pipeline Syst Eng Pract 12(2):07021001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pati JK, Lal J, Prakash K, Bhusan R (2008) Spatio-temporal shift of western bank of the ganga river, Allahabad city and its implications. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 36(3):289–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips JD (1991) Fluvial sediment budgets in the North Carolina Piedmont. Geomorphology 4(3–4):231–241

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pu JH, Wallwork JT, Khan M, Pandey M, Pourshahbaz H, Satyanaga A, Hanmaiahgari PR, Gough T (2021) Flood suspended sediment transport: combined modelling from dilute to hyper-concentrated flow. Water 13(3):379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rana N, Singh S, Sundriyal YP, Juyal N (2013) Recent and past floods in the Alaknanda valley: causes and consequences. Curr Sci 105(9):1209–1212

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranjan R (2017) Flood disaster management. In: River system analysis and management. Springer, Berlin, pp 371–417

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Saleem Ashraf ML, Iftikhar M, Ashraf I, Hassan ZY (2017) Understanding flood risk management in Asia: concepts and challenges. In: Flood risk management. InTech, p 177. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69139

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sarma D (2013) Rural risk assessment due to flooding and riverbank erosion in Majuli, Assam. University of Twente, India

    Google Scholar 

  • Sarma JN, Acharjee S (2012) A GIS based study on bank erosion by the river Brahmaputra around Kaziranga National Park, Assam. India Earth Syst Dyn Discuss 3(2):1085–1106

    Google Scholar 

  • Shah NM (1995) Emigration dynamics from and within South Asia. Int Migr 33(3–4):559–625

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shankar MS, Pandey M, Shukla AK (2021) Analysis of existing equations for calculating the settling velocity. Water 13(14):1987

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shivashankar M, Pandey M, Zakwan M (2022) Estimation of settling velocity using generalized reduced gradient (GRG) and hybrid generalized reduced gradient–genetic algorithm (hybrid GRG-GA). Acta Geophys:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Shrestha MS, Takara K (2008) Impacts of floods in South Asia. J South Asia Disaster Study 1(1):85–106

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh UK, Jamei M, Karbasi M, Malik A, Pandey M (2022) Application of a modern multi-level ensemble approach for the estimation of critical shear stress in cohesive sediment mixture. J Hydrol 607:127549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh O, Kumar M (2017) Flood occurrences, damages, and management challenges in India: a geographical perspective. Arab J Geosci 10(5):1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh RB, Singh S (2011) Rapid urbanization and induced flood risk in Noida. India Asian Geographer 28(2):147–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh DS, Awasthi A (2011) Natural hazards in the Ghaghara river area, ganga plain. India Nat Hazard 57(2):213–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subrahmanyam VP (1988) Hazards of floods and droughts in India. In natural and man-made hazards. Springer, Berlin, pp 337–356

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Thakur PK, Laha C, Aggarwal SP (2012) River bank erosion hazard study of river ganga, upstream of Farakka barrage using remote sensing and GIS. Nat Hazards 61(3):967–987

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tripathi P (2015) Flood disaster in India: an analysis of trend and preparedness. Interdiscip J Contemp Res 2(4):91–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Vishnu CR, Sridharan R (2016) A case study on impact of Chennai floods: supply chain perspective. Ind Eng J 9(8):12–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Wahiduzzaman M (2021) Major floods and tropical cyclones over Bangladesh: clustering from ENSO timescales. Atmos 12(6):692

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallwork JT, Pu JH, Kundu S, Hanmaiahgari PR, Pandey M, Satyanaga A, Pandey M, Satyanaga A, Amir Khan M, Wood A (2022) Review of suspended sediment transport mathematical modelling studies. Fluids 7(1):23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • WMO (2011) Manual on flood forecasting and warningWMO-No. 1072. World Meteorological Organisation, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal, India

    Guguloth Saikumar & Manish Pandey

  2. Department of Geography, C.M.P. College, Allahabad University, Allahabad, India

    Pratibha Kumari Singh Dikshit

Authors
  1. Guguloth Saikumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Manish Pandey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Pratibha Kumari Singh Dikshit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guguloth Saikumar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal, Telangana, India

    Manish Pandey

  2. Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of West Indies, Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago

    Hazi Azamathulla

  3. Civil and Structural Engineering, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK

    Jaan H. Pu

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Saikumar, G., Pandey, M., Dikshit, P.K.S. (2023). Natural River Hazards: Their Impacts and Mitigation Techniques. In: Pandey, M., Azamathulla, H., Pu, J.H. (eds) River Dynamics and Flood Hazards. Disaster Resilience and Green Growth. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7100-6_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation