The recent Kosi megaflood, caused by a breach in the Kosi embankment in Nepal on August 18, 2008 and a sudden change in the course of the Kosi River, was one of the most significant and damaging flood events ever to hit Bihar. The Kosi disaster also ranks as one of the greatest disasters in India.
The results of trend analyses of the discharge data of four rivers in northwestern Himalaya, namely Beas, Chenab, Ravi and Satluj, are presented here and the impact of climate change in the last century is discussed. In the case of Satluj river, studies indicate an episodic variation in discharge in all three seasons on a longer timescale of about 82 years (1922
In the present study, the temporal patterns of monsoon floods on five large rivers of the Deccan Peninsula have been investigated. Analyses of the long-term annual maximum discharge/state data, available for the last 100 years or so, show non-random behaviour in terms of distinct periods of high and low floods.
