Vulnerability to Flood Hazard in Sant Kabir Nagar District of Rapti River Basin, Ganga Plain, India

Floods are the overflow of substantial amounts of water that are beyond the carrying capacity of the river. The Rapti River flows through Middle Ganga Plain, until meeting the Ghaghra river, making a total distance of about 560 kilometres in India. In the regions of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, it generates significant floods due to its shallow depth and extremely sinuous flow pattern. The river travels through Bahraich, Shrawasti, Balrampur, Siddharthnagar, Sant Kabir Nagar and Gorakhpur districts before joining the Ghaghara on its left bank close to Barhaj in Deoria district. The fact that the greatest number of marginal embankments have been built along Rapti in Uttar Pradesh and that 2, 65, 521 hectares have been safeguarded by the building of 1092 km of marginal embankments along Rapti and its tributaries further speaks to the severity of floods in the Rapti river. In addition to study the impact of the 2017 floods in the district of Sant Kabir Nagar, Rapti River basin, this paper will identify areas that are vulnerable to frequent flooding so that the machinery used in the process of rescue, relief, and rehabilitation can make the most effective use of the available human and physical resources.