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AIMS Environmental Science

2017, Volume 4, Issue 2: 206-216. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2017.2.206
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Research article Special Issues

An assessment of flood vulnerability in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province of Pakistan

  • 1.
    Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Department of Geography University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan
  • 2.
    Economics Department at University of Peshawar and Assistant Professor in Economics at Govt. Postgraduate College, Charsadda, Khyber Pukhthunkhwa, Pakistan
  • 3.
    Department of natural resources management, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
  • 4.
    Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management (CDPM), University of Peshawar, Khyber Pukhthunkhwa, Pakistan
  • Received: 01 November 2016 Accepted: 21 February 2017 Published: 27 February 2017

  • In this research we have attempted to measure vulnerability of the communities living in the flood prone area of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Extensive literature review was conducted to identify the flood vulnerability indicators. Primary data were used to achieve the objective of this study. Questionnaires were used to collect the primary data from the selected households and from the director of Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management. Subjective assessment technique was used to allocate weights to the selected indicators of vulnerability. A sample size of 280 respondents was taken from three selected locations of Charsadda, Nowshera and Peshawar. Simple random sampling was employed for the selection of respondents. Results revealed that overall vulnerability as well as component vulnerability for the selected locations was very high. The study therefore recommends preparedness, provision of funds for building houses with flood resistant materials and building houses in safer places. There is also a need for enhancing the adaptive capacities of the concerned communities through their socio-economic uplift. Implementation of these policies would lower the vulnerability of the communities to flood disasters.

    Citation: Said Qasim, Mohammad Qasim, Rajendra Prasad Shrestha, Amir Nawaz Khan. An assessment of flood vulnerability in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province of Pakistan[J]. AIMS Environmental Science, 2017, 4(2): 206-216. doi: 10.3934/environsci.2017.2.206

    Related Papers:

  • In this research we have attempted to measure vulnerability of the communities living in the flood prone area of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Extensive literature review was conducted to identify the flood vulnerability indicators. Primary data were used to achieve the objective of this study. Questionnaires were used to collect the primary data from the selected households and from the director of Centre for Disaster Preparedness and Management. Subjective assessment technique was used to allocate weights to the selected indicators of vulnerability. A sample size of 280 respondents was taken from three selected locations of Charsadda, Nowshera and Peshawar. Simple random sampling was employed for the selection of respondents. Results revealed that overall vulnerability as well as component vulnerability for the selected locations was very high. The study therefore recommends preparedness, provision of funds for building houses with flood resistant materials and building houses in safer places. There is also a need for enhancing the adaptive capacities of the concerned communities through their socio-economic uplift. Implementation of these policies would lower the vulnerability of the communities to flood disasters.


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