Across the world, (mega-) cities, rural areas, industrial infrastructures, and landscapes are affected by floods. These partly catastrophic impacts will increase with ongoing global warming, leading to higher frequencies and amplitudes of flood events. Both more developed and less developed countries are at risk as floods impact environmental, economic, and social systems. The increase in the monetary value of floodplains, deltas, and coastal areas (e.g., by urbanization and industrialization) leads to an increase in the expected damage caused by flood events. Thus, research on flood prevention, flood protection, flood risk management, and disaster management has been performed nationally and internationally in recent decades. The water bodies in urban areas are highly contaminated with wastewater and dumpsite leachate runoff which carry a lot of pollutants high in BOD, microbial load, chemicals, and microplastics. Additionally, analysis of pollutant distribution may help to model and predict how flood events and the associated distribution of pollutants have and may impact organismic performance and ecosystem functioning.

22-24 February 2023 venue: IIT Madras, Chennai