The New Indian Express ·
26 Vizag wards face very high flood vulnerability: IIT study
VISAKHAPATNAM: As many as 26 wards in Visakhapatnam have been classified as having very high flood vulnerability, while another 38 wards fall under the high-risk category, according to a study by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi.
The study, titled ‘Spatial Assessment of Flood Vulnerability in Visakhapatnam City, India by Integrating GIS and AHP Techniques,’ was conducted by Abeer Sanyour and Vishal Chettry of the Department of Architecture, Planning and Design, IIT-BHU, and published in the proceedings of the SUPTM 2026 conference.
The researchers used Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) techniques to assess flood vulnerability at the ward level. The assessment considered factors including elevation, slope, distance from the sea and rivers, drainage density, road density, rainfall, vegetation cover and distance from hospitals.
