Integrating Flood Typologies with Management Stages: A Diagnostic Study of India’s Flood Resilience Landscape

Floods in India show diverse typologies, ranging from Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF), riverine, coastal, and urban floods. Despite their varied origins, these flood types share common gaps in management and response. This study presents a novel comparative, stage-wise diagnostic framework structured across four management stages, including data collection, communication, data modelling, and dissemination for flood risk management in India, spanning four flood typologies. For each type, key problem areas are identified through root cause analysis and solution mapping. This study is among the first to integrate such a comparative lens with current budget allocations and policy priorities, offering practical strategies grounded in technology and governance reform. Persistent challenges such as outdated data systems, fragmented institutional coordination, and a lack of real-time dissemination are examined in depth, with recommendations including Doppler radars, LiDAR-based flood zoning, interagency coordination cells, and localised communication platforms. The framework enables targeted and transferable insights across flood types and stages to strengthen India’s adaptive flood resilience and early warning capacity.