Land Suitability Estimation for Urban Development in Flood-Prone Regions Using a GIS-Based MCDA Approach

Land suitability analysis act as an essential tool for urban planning and development. The Barak Valley region in Assam has been experiencing a rising trend in urbanization, and being a flood-prone region, suitable site selection becomes a complex task. The present study aims to identify sites less vulnerable to floods for urban land development using a GIS-based MCDA-AHP approach. Ten factors representing the topographical, geomorphological, drainage characteristics, hydrological, and meteorological conditions of the study area are considered, and each factor is assigned weightage according to the AHP technique. The factors are combined to develop a land suitability index (LSI) map. The spatial distribution of the LSI map delineates the sites suitable for urbanization and also indicates the highly flood-prone areas. According to the LSI map, 15.44% of Barak Valley shows very high LSI classes, 7.80% indicates low LSI and more than 45% falls under moderate to high LSI zones. Among the districts of Barak Valley, more than 66% of the area of the Cachar district, 64.75% of the Hailakandi district, and 58.43% of the Karimganj district area fall under moderate to very high LSI zones. Areas having high land suitability are near roads and health care facilities, far away from rivers and flood locations. The outcome of the present study can help urban planners, policymakers, and risk management authorities in sustainable urban development by considering the flood hazard zones.