FLOODS IN COOCH BEHAR: NATURE, ANALYSIS AND MITIGATION

Abstract

Abstract

Flood is one of the most severe disasters frequently suffered by human and cattle lives which are caused due to cumulative effects of weather events and it is found as the acute environmental hazard of Cooch Behar district of West Bengal. The flood in Cooch Behar threatens the lives and properties of large number of people almost each year. The reasons for floods are excessive rainfall within short duration in small catchment areas and simultaneous melting of newly formed glacier accumulated on eastern Himalaya and continuous heavy rainfall on downstream area of these rivers namely Teesta, Torsa, Jaldhaka, Kaljani and Raidak caused floods. Moreover in the upper courses of river released a huge amount of water in a short period through these rivers caused devastation flood. Present paper is concerned with the study on the problems of flood of Cooch Behar district. It also includes a detailed discussion on the nature, extent, causes and consequences of floods and here we also discuss the present status of embankments and possible flood prone areas of the catchments for the purpose of analysis of the flood hazards and suggests suitable controlling measures for its revival.