Flood Management Current State, Challenges and Prospects in Pakistan: A Review

Abstract

Flooding is globally a major natural hazard. Floods result in property and life loss and poor economic development. Though it is not possible to prevent the occurrence of floods, but their negative impacts could be minimized considerably through proper planning and effective preparation. The vulnerability to floods could be reduced by accurate and timely prediction (Forecasting and Warning) and by impactreducing measures. Pakistan faces flooding problem almost every year in the recent past. For the period 1947-2015, a financial loss of US$ 38.165 billion has been estimated as a result of 23 major flood events in Pakistan. Approximately, more than 12,000 human beings were dead and 616,598 km2 land area was affected due to these floods. Climate change has been projected to lead to an increase in the frequency and magnitude of floods in future in Pakistan due to high glacial melting and deicing of mountain caps and high monsoon rainfall. The situation demands for effective and sustainable flood management to reduce flood damages. This paper reviews flood management current state, highlights challenges of flood management and identifies prospects for effective and sustainable flood management in Pakistan. The paper also seeks to make certain recommendations toward effective and sustainable flood management in Pakistan.