‘HiFlo-DAT’: A flood hazard event-disaster database for the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, Indian Himalaya

Abstract

‘HiFlo-DAT’ (Himalayan Flood Database) contributes to the disaster risk reduction (DRR) agenda of developing methodologies for the assembly, analysis, and application of disaggregated/sub-national disaster loss data; here for mountain floods in the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India. The HiFlo-DAT architecture is aligned to international best practice/local needs. It uses English-language documents, principally newspapers and government reports (1835–2020), and comprises 128 flood events, at 59 locations, over 175 years (1846–2020). This open-access database brings a substantial improvement over existing compilations. Subject to the fidelity of historical event recording, analyses highlight temporal/process patterns inclusive of flood-rich periods (1890–1900s; 1990s-present: 68 % of events), increasing flood occurrence towards the present, the prevalence of rainfall causation (55 %), and the dominance of summer monsoon flooding (June–September: 87 %). Spatially, of the 59 locations recording floods, 76 % record a single event, 24 % have two or more events, and four tributaries record 8–14 events. Key flood impact receptors were roads (55 floods), bridges (54 floods and 94 impacts) and vulnerable labourer-migrant communities (70 % fatalities and 83 % affected) notably associated with construction projects in remote/exposed locations. Key opportunities for policy and practice development include transference of the HiFlo-DAT methodology across the wider Indian Himalayan Region and trans-boundary basins; multi-disciplinary approaches to corroborate and extend documentary-based databases; improved access to public archive materials; routine integration of historical flood data into DRR/climate change adaptation management planning and infrastructure development design; and deeper multi-agency partnership to record contemporary flood impacts to provide effective data for current/future DRR.