A GIS based Approach

Khulna, the third largest metropolis of Bangladesh has been identified as one of the 15 most vulnerable coastal cities under climate change and it is believed that this scenario will be exacerbated with time by cyclone, saline water intrusion, submerging low-lying areas, and tidal and urban floods, etc. The city accommodates around 1.3 million people. The poorly drained city is approximately 2.5m above mean sea level. Climate change effect, especially sea level rise and flooding which is a major concern for the development of the city, was not considered when the structure plan 2000-2020 was prepared. First objective of the research is to analyze the land use policies under Structure Plan and second is to assess potential flood damage using secondary data namely Digital Elevation Model of Flood for 2020 and stage-damage functions for different major land uses with Geographic Information System grid-based approach. This research would provide a better understating of the future flood risk and facilitate the decision makers to review the existing and proposed land uses for taking mitigation and prevention measures.