A study by IIT Roorkee researchers on 591 districts found that areas vulnerable to floods may also struggle with drought. This finding suggests the need for joint disaster planning at the district level to address both threats.
The research indicated that vulnerability to both floods and droughts increased in several parts of India between 2001 and 2011. This trend calls for comprehensive disaster plans that tackle both hazards together.
Researchers examined 591 districts using social, economic, population, and infrastructure data from 2001 and 2011. They analyzed how vulnerable communities were to each hazard, where these vulnerabilities overlapped, and how the patterns changed over the decade.
The study found an increase in the share of highly flood-vulnerable districts, rising from 16.5 percent in 2001 to 21.4 percent in 2011. These findings were published in npj Natural Hazards.
The results suggest that district-level disaster management strategies must integrate planning for both flood and drought scenarios to improve preparedness.
