Shannon entropy-based quantitative method for measuring Risk-integrated Resilience (RiR) index on flood disaster in West Rapti basin of Nepal Himalaya

Extreme weather patterns and unsustainable development dynamics have substantially increased disaster risks compelling widespread demand for community resilience worldwide. This study aims to develop and measure Risk-integrated Resilience (RiR) index of flood-affected downstream communities in West Rapti Basin (WRB) of the Nepal Himalaya. The evidence-based RiR framework being developed here links risk factor with capital-based resilience characteristics. Three levels of risk zones were categorized based on the flood inundation level considering the latest highest river discharge (7643 m3/s) that the community experienced in 2014. The low-risk zone (≤ 1 foot), moderate-risk zone (> 1 foot to 0.80; α = 0.85). Shannon entropy-based quantitative method was adopted to assign weight for each indicator. The resilience index was estimated in each capital domain, and finally the composite resilience index was determined in all three risk zones: low-risk zone = 0.358; moderate-risk zone = 0.365; and high-risk zone = 0.295. The result suggests that disaster risk reduction interventions in WRB should focus on improving the lower level of resilience, while low-risk zone should not be neglected. The study highlights that resilience assessment linking risk factors in basin scale is significant approach to reduce the negative impact of flood disasters. The new perspective, evidence-based RiR framework, value adds to effectively and efficiently address the disaster challenges in river basin scale.