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Are Floods Getting Worse in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Basins?
Book chapter   Peer reviewed

Are Floods Getting Worse in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Basins?

M M Q Mirza, Richard A Warrick, N J Ericksen and G J Kenny
Climate Change and Water Resources in South Asia, pp.55-75
Taylor & Francis Ltd.
2005
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203020777-11
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https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203020777-11View
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Abstract

Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience floods flood hazards river discharge South Asia
Available information shows that in recent years, flood damage in Nepal, India and Bangladesh has been increasing. These increases have largely been attributed to worsening flood events (in terms of river discharge and spatial extent of flooding) in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna/Barak river basins. Such claims, however, do not appear to be based on systematic analyses of relevant data. This paper examines whether floods in the GBM basins are getting worse by appying statistical tests to peak discharge data of the three rivers and to flooded area data. It is concluded that increasing settlement and associated economic activities in flood-prone areas are the more likely contributors to rising flood damages, not worsening flood events themselves.

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