Abstract
Rarh Bengal, the part of Lower Gangetic Plain (LGP) is one of the most affected flood-prone regions in the world as well as in India with immense social impact, including human life loss and also major infrastructural damage. The region is constituted of five major tributary systems of the Bhagirathi-Hooghly River in the western part viz. the Kopai-Mayurakshi-Dwarka, the Ajay, the Damodar, the Dwarakeswar-Silabati-Rupanarayan, and the Kangsabati-Keleghai-Haldi System. The majority of rivers in this region are short and have small catchments, but these all often cause significantly high flooding in terms of unit peak discharges. If we unfold the flood history since 1960, it can be observed that the Rarh Bengal has experienced only 11 flood-free years. The 2015 Rarh Bengal Flood was exceptional not only in terms of hydro-meteorological aspects but also in terms of duration, damage, and death toll. In this context, an attempt has been made to analyse the hydrological variability of Rarh Bengal’s rivers during the 2015 flood with detail analysis of synoptic conditions. This study has also explained the extension of the 2015 flood (inundated area) by using remote sensing data (MODIS and Landsat 8 OLI) with its other devastating consequences in Rarh Bengal.
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Acknowledgements
This research work was presented at XIV International Geographical Union (IGU)—India, an International Conference on “Agriculture, Food, Water, Biodiversity and Health in Changing Climate” which was organised by The University of Burdwan, West Bengal from 06 March to 08 March 2020. We are indebted to Dr. Subhajit Sinha, Session Chairperson from Department of Geology, University of Calcutta and Co-Chairperson for their valuable suggestions. The authors acknowledge Central Water Commission (CWC) under Govt. Of India and Irrigation & Waterways Department under Govt. of West Bengal for cooperating with us at the time of data collection. Finally, we also express gratitude to the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their thoughtful and thorough reviews that improved the clarity of the manuscript.
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Chatterjee, S., Jana, N.C. (2022). Hydro-Meteorological Analysis of 2015 Rarh Bengal Flood in the Lower Gangetic Plain of India: Exceptional, Fast and Furious. In: Jana, N.C., Singh, R.B. (eds) Climate, Environment and Disaster in Developing Countries. Advances in Geographical and Environmental Sciences. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6966-8_22
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