Flooding and riverbank erosion are recognized as the primary hazards within the floodplainFloodplains area. This research evaluated the vulnerability and sustainability of populations impacted by these phenomena in the Kaljani River basin. Various index-based approaches were utilized, to analyze household vulnerability and sustainability, including livelihood vulnerability, sustainable livelihood, climate vulnerability indices, and current adaptive capacity indices (CACI); while quantifying relative significance of different contributing indicators in the context set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The research encompassed three aspects of vulnerability, comprising eight major components and a total of 76 indicators. Households at non-protected villages exhibited greater exposure to natural hazards and climate changeClimate change (NHCC) risks than those in protected villages. A strong positive correlation was observed between overall livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) and LVI-IPCC, with an ‘r’ value of + 0.88. The estimated LVI-IPCC results perfectly matched the vulnerability ranking, and it almost perfectly correlated between climate vulnerability index (CVI) and LVI-IPCC results with an ‘r’ value of 0.978. The CVI, and CACI results suggest that inhabitants of non-protected villages face the greatest vulnerable due to climate change, and exhibit a diminished adaptive capacity relative to those residing in protected villages. A review of the indicator-based methodologies indicates that LVI indices produced comparable results concerning livelihood vulnerability and sustainability, which were adequately validated through the LVI-IPCC framework. However, the CVI offered more accurate results than both the LVI and Sustainable Livelihood Index. This analysis is crucial for decision-makers in implementing effective policies for river basin management and development.