FLOOD HAZARD ZONING FOR REDUCING FLOOD RISK: A REMOTE SENSING AND GIS BASED APPROACH IN SIPAJHAR DEVELOPMENT BLOCK, DARRANG DISTRICT OF ASSAM

Flood is considered to be the most common natural disaster worldwide during the last decades. The study area Sipajhar Development Block of Darrang district of Assam is prone to flood and bank erosion because of its topographical and hydrological characteristics. The three main river passing through this region namely Nonoi, Barnadi and Saktola create high magnitude flood due to its high volume of water in every year. The river Brahmaputra flowing in the southern part of the area also create flood year by year which plays significant impact upon the existing socioal economic conditions of the people. Through flood hazard zoning the losses can be prevented and reduced by providing reliable information to the public about the flood risk. The Flood hazard zonation map for the study area has been prepared by weighted overlay analysis method where the DEM and other layers such as drainage, soil, geology, landuse etc. are taken to analyse in GIS environment. The maximum flood inundated villages were integrated for assessing the frequency of inundation and subsequent generation of the hazard layer. The main objectives of this study are to mapping the flood hazard zone which is utmost need for management and mitigation of flood