Assessment of River Shahpur for Flood Risk in Northern Pakistan

Abstract

During 2010 flood, great losses to human and properties were reported in the study area. In terms of land and property loss, 74.1 hectare agriculture land, 2719 to 3114 houses were fully and partially damaged. This study was carried out with an aim, to explore flood risk assessment of river Shahpur in District Shangla. For the future perspectives ‘River Habitat Survey was used for flood risk assessment and ‘Spot Check Key Models’ are used to derive guidelines.  Settlements and agriculture activities on the river banks were some of the major causes of the reported catastrophe in the study area. Most of the damages were reported on the right bank of river Shahpur due to the topography and structure of soil. This study recommends the construction of check dams and river embankment on river Shahpur to mitigate flood destruction in the future, coupled by flood prediction; early warning systems and risk assessment procedures should be integrated in both local and national planning so that both fertile land and precious lives can be saved.

Keywords: Flood Risk, Flood Risk Assessment, River Habitat Survey, Spot Check key.