A c c e p t e d M a n u s c r i p t RESEARCH ARTICLEGIS based drainage morphometry and its influence on hydrology in parts of Western Ghats region, Maharashtra, IndiaVarious drainage morphometric parameters in the Upper Bhima river basin and its influence on hydrological processes (e.g runoff, peak flow, time to peak, infiltration, overland flow etc.) were discussed using Geographical Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques. Survey of India (SoI) topographical maps and ASTER Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was incorporated for thematic database generation and morphometric parameter evaluation. Total study basin was divided into 8 sub-basins so that the spatial variation of morphological parameters and its influence on hydrology could be analysed. The interrelationship between morphometric variables were computed (p <0.05) and presented in a correlation matrix. The study revealed that, mean basin slope (B s ), drainage density (D), length of overland flow (L g ) and basin relief (H) are significantly related with a large number of morphometric variables. Due to close proximity of Western Ghats, sub-basins 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are highly influenced by slope as result, length of overland flow decreases and water immediately follow channel path. In contrast, sub-basins 3, 7 and 8 are relatively flatter, overland flow is relatively longer and favourable for infiltration. Independent morphometric variables were identified from correlation matrix and used in a Multiple Criteria Analysis (MCA) framework for watershed prioritization. Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), a MCA technique, identified the highest (sub-basin 4) and lowest (sub-basin 7) priority sub-basins in the Upper Bhima basin. The outcome of the study may be useful for watershed managers and planners while implementing soil and water conservation measures in the region.

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Urban flooding is growing as a serious development challenge for cities. Urbanization demands the conversion of pervious land to impervious land by pushing the transformation of water bodies, flood plains, wetlands and green spaces into built-up spaces. This affects the hydrological setting of the city’s geographic area. Bhubaneswar, one of the first planned cities of independent India, has expanded rapidly with an increase in the settlement land use cover from 41 km2 to 81 km2 in the last two decades. Non-consideration of disaster risk assessment in the land use plan has placed the city at high disaster risk. Hence, this article explores various avenues for making a flood resilient city through spatial planning. To understand the flood and its consequences, a flood hazard and vulnerability map was prepared by overlaying the existing social and infrastructure networks, and flood risk zones were generated through analytical spatial modelling in GIS. This accounts for the areas in which flood hazards are expected to occur, as well as the area whose socio-economic and infrastructure susceptibility to the disaster is more. The key outcome is to ensure urban development that can work concurrently with nature by integrating disaster risk reduction strategies into land use planning.

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