HiFlo-DAT: Indian Himalayan Flood Database, for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Kullu District

‘HiFlo-DAT’ is an ongoing bi-lateral research project (UK and India, UGC-UKIERI funded, 2018-2020), focussing on historical floods in the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalaya. The project team, comprising academic and state/district disaster management authorities, are together developing a new historical flood hazard database as a foundation for improved disaster risk management functions in the region. This is necessary as current management relies on incomplete knowledge of past flood event occurrence, bringing elevated exposure/ risk to development. The HiFlo-DAT database provides a step-change, drawing on extensive mining of archive materials held in private and public collections in India, UK and USA. These materials include newspapers, government reports/ registers, diaries, books, academic articles etc. Most extensive are English language Indian region newspapers, of which we have amassed overlapping holdings over 184 years (1835 to present), totalling c. 150,000 pages. Our acquisition includes coverage of annual periods where publications are digitally searchable (e.g. The Tribune, The Times of India, The Indian Express). In contrast, where archives remain in an analogue microfilm format (e.g. The Civil and Military Gazette, The Friend of India) we restricted data searches to monsoon season months (i.e. July to September) given this is the typical window for floods in the Western Himalaya. The HiFlo-DAT database architecture takes account of best practice, having systematically reviewed global (most commonly European) flood database research in the last c. 30 years, in regard to database structure, data entry/verification protocols, analytical foci and societal impact. HiFlo-DAT has 103 possible entry categories for each event record, which are aggregated into 11 principal groups (i.e. database management, citation information, timing/ duration, location, causation and hydro-meteorological magnitude, channel/ catchment geomorphological impacts, damage/ destruction/ costs, human casualties, pre-event actions, event response, post-event actions). The bi-lateral review of source materials and population of the database are governed by an agreed set of protocols. Initial analyses are focussing on: (1) event spatial/ temporal/ impact signatures; (2) the relationship between flood occurrence and rainfall conditions. The latter makes use of a unique long-term daily rainfall series for Naggar Farm, being compiled from British government records (1891-1950) and current IARI data (1962 to present). HiFlo-DAT is designed with capacity for future updating, and will be open access via the BathSPAdata repository and HPSDMA website

Solid waste management in Mohal [Discussion paper]

Solid waste management in Mohal [Discussion paper

Dynamics and impacts of the 1994 Phojal Nalla flood disaster, Indian Himalaya

This research offers a comprehensive synthesis of the August 1994 Phojal Nalla flood disaster. Understanding local natural hazards, through applied geomorphological assessments is particularly important in mountain catchments, where rapid development pressures (e.g. tourism, hydroelectric power, land use change and road construction) are accompanied by a poor understanding of process dynamics. Field reconstructions, hydro-meteorological data, eye-witness accounts of the disaster and documentary archives are reported. These data deliver improved baseline knowledge and reveal the local importance of hydro-meteorological triggers, slope-channel coupling and the complexity of sediment-water flows. Such enhanced knowledge will enable improved hazard and risk management for mountain communities

Accelerating change: engaging local communities in disaster risk reduction in the Indian Himalayan region

A science policy briefing paper from academics in Bath (UK) and Almora (India). This details the problem of increasing disaster risk in mountain regions alongside a gap in local community engagement. The briefing calls for a shift in emphasis, which fosters inclusive community engagement, and takes better account of local knowledge in disaster risk reduction. Specific recommendations are: (i) revision of State and District disaster management plans; (ii) implementation of comprehensive awareness campaigns; and (iii) programmes to capture the diversity of local knowledge