Identification of vulnerable areas in municipal corporation of Greater Mumbai due to extreme events based on socio economic indicators

Abstract

Study area, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has very high population density. There are a large number of environmental issues and climate related concerns which collectively make the city vulnerable to both natural and man-made hazards. Mumbai is the financial capital of India and also have a large port facility. In this scenario the effects of both man-made and natural hazards are immense on the economy. Socio-economic parameters play an important role in reducing impacts due to these events. This study identifies the exposure and relief parameters for Mumbai city and Mumbai suburban. These two districts are classified into 24 wards. To group these wards on the basis of similar socio-economic characteristics, exploratory cluster analysis was performed. Paper reports high exposure and low relief capacity wards in MCGM. It was found that six Mumbai municipal wards namely, B, C, H/E, K/E, N and M/E have high exposure and low relief capacity. In case of extreme events these wards are expected to have high impacts. Policies can be formulated for high exposure and low relief capacity wards identified in the present study.