[01] Kuldeep Pareta, DHI (India) Water & Environment Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, India.

The state govt is managing the flood control measures such as construction of embankments and anti-erosion measures in the Brahmaputra river basin in Assam. The existing cumulative length of embankments in Assam is 4,474 Kms, most of these embankments have been constructed before 1980. Floods cause considerable damage to flood management assets including embankments, spurs, studs, RCC porcupines, geo-textile fabric bags pitching, and bamboo piles as well as village households and standing crops. Hence, construction as well as regular monitoring of anti-erosion structures is essential. This study presents a prioritised list of 115 vulnerable areas, identified after analysis of 25 years of satellite imageries, GIS based multi-criteria analysis, vulnerability classes, and field assessment survey conducted by the author. These vulnerable areas where flood protection works are, of utmost importance are classified as very-highly sensitive, highly sensitive, moderate sensitive, and low sensitive, which are 18, 39, 36, and 22 respectively; then the state govt can prioritised vulnerable areas based on that classification. The eighteen very-highly sensitive areas are: 001-Upor Laupani, 010-Ting Khong Bhong Ali, 021-Churaipura, 025-Loliti Sopari, 041-Khurahola, 050-Kamolaiya, 062-Boga Mukh, 067-Mahmari Pathar, 079-Balatery, 080-Paharpur Katuli, 084-Tarakandi, 086-Mohanpur, 099-Baladmari Char, 100-Koriy, 108-Motichar, 110-Takimari, 112-Dakur Bhita, and 114-Patakata. A detailed observations, remarks, and recommendations with photographs of all vulnerable areas are also present in this paper.

Multi-criteria Analysis, Vulnerable Areas, Field Assessment, Brahmaputra River, and RS/GIS

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