Title: Flood risk assessment and hydrological simulation in the Upper Krishna River Basin, India

Authors: Ravi Ande; Darshan Mehta; Vandana Maurya; Prashant Birbal; James N. Furze; Shashikant Verma

Addresses: Department of Fabric and Apparel Science, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, 110001, India ' Department of Civil Engineering, Dr. S. and S. S. Ghandhy Government Engineering College, Surat, Gujarat, India ' Department of Environmental Science, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi, 110001, India ' Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad, 32080, West Indies ' Royal Geographical Society, (with the Institute of British Geographers), London, SW7 2AR, UK; Earth Systems Protection Foundation, Somerset, UK ' Civil Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Raipur (C.G), 492010, India

Abstract: Floods are among the most frequent and destructive natural disasters, and in India, they affect nearly 8% of the land area. Fluvial floods, mainly caused by heavy monsoon rainfall, occur annually, with Karnataka - particularly North Karnataka - being highly vulnerable due to the Krishna River. This study examines recent flooding issues in the Upper Krishna River system, where downstream areas face recurring floods from intense rainfall and inadequate real-time monitoring and forecasting systems. A key component in flood modelling is the use of digital elevation models (DEMs). For this research, DEMs from ASTER, SRTM, and Cartosat were evaluated across the basin. The Cartosat DEM proved most effective for flood risk assessment, offering higher accuracy for large-area studies. With advances in hydrological modelling, decision-makers can now access more spatially detailed data, improving real-time responses, recovery operations, and long-term flood mitigation strategies.

Keywords: flooding; Krishna Basin; DEM; digital elevation model; hazard.

DOI: 10.1504/IJW.2025.151230

International Journal of Water, 2025 Vol.17 No.2, pp.153 - 184

Received: 24 May 2025
Accepted: 05 Jul 2025
Published online: 19 Jan 2026 *

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