Flooding in South Asia (LEDC)

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  • Flooding of South Asia, 2007
    • Physical Factors
      • Monsoon came suddenly after a very dry early summer
      • peak discharge of the river Ganges and Brahmaputra coincided - increased river discharge downstream
      • heavy Rainfall - assam= 169.5mm in 24 hours on 22nd July and 900mm for july total
    • Human activities
      • Deforestation in Himalayas and Nepal = less interception of rainfall = increase discharge
      • growth of urban areas due to migration = increased surface runoff
      • collapse of old earth dams in madhya, pradesh and india = further flooding
    • Environmental Impacts
      • Flood deposited fertile silt on flood plain
      • Rivers polluted with sewage
    • Social Impacts
      • 2000+ people died. death toll was high for many reasons e.g many people reluctant to evacuate (have to leave land and livestock unattended), children drowned couldnt swim, poor transport links = slow evacuation
      • wells polluted with sewage= lack of clean drinking water. 100000+ people caught water borne diseses
      • 25 million people left homeless
      • 112000 houses destroyed in india = pourous mud bricks saturated by floodwater
      • dhaka inundated especially poorer districts and shanty towns near the river
      • children lost out on education 4000 schools affected, 44 schools destroyed
    • Economic Impacts
      • cost of flood= $1 billion including damage to crops and property
      • Factories closed around dhaka due to flood damage and loss of raw materials
        • poorest workers became unemployed
      • widespread loss of livestock
        • many people lost their livelihoods due to 80% of bangladeshis relying on agriculture
      • 550000 hectares land couldnt be planted with rice at peak times due to flooded fiels
        • lower rice crop= world price of basmati rice + 10% increase
      • 10000km roads destroyed. Landslides blocked roads in highlands of Nepal and assam
      • debt increased both individually and nationally
    • General facts
      • south asia= monsoon climate - 80% rainfall in 4 months
      • low lying land particular;ly bangladesh- 90% land is only 10m above sea level
      • increased snowmelt from himilayas - increase in the brahmaputra river discharge
      • july and auguat 2007 flooding severe in bangladesh and india

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