Cause and damage analysis of 2010 flood disaster in district Muzaffar Garh, Pakistan

In this paper, the causes and damages of 2010 flood disaster were analyzed in districts Muzaffar Garh. The study area is one of the severely flood affected districts by floods in the past. A mix research approach is applied to analyse the 2010-flood generating factors and damages in the study area. Primary data were acquired through questionnaires, personal observations and Global Positioning System (GPS). Remote Sensing (RS) Landsat-7 ETM data were obtained from USGS online database for pre- and post-flooding periods to delineate the spatial extent of inundation and estimate different land covers classes with damages. Secondary data regarding Rainfall and river discharge were acquired from concerned Government Departments. Modified Normalized Difference in Water Index (MNDWI) was applied to extract inundation, and supervised image classification algorithm was utilized to classify land cover into different classes. The analysis indicates that the flood was generated by extreme rainfall event in the last week of July, 2010 in the upper catchment areas of River Indus. This generated ever highest discharge in the River Indus. As a consequence, this disastrous flow has breached the left marginal embankment (LME) near Taunsa barrage. Spatially, more than half of the land area was inundated. Moreover, the analysis showed that the inundation incurred total estimated economic loss of about 9.85 million US$. Out of total, the maximum damages of 4.45 million US$ were reported from agriculture sector followed by infrastructures 3.5 million US$. This study will provide an empirical basis for flood disaster management authorities to plan disaster response activity and mitigation strategies to reduce the risk of potential damages. The results can also assist decision makers to evaluate breaching points.

Automated summary

The study analyzed the causes and damages of the 2010 flood disaster in Muzaffar Garh district, finding that extreme rainfall in late July in the upper catchment areas of River Indus led to the highest river discharge in history. Over half of the land area was inundated, with estimated economic losses of about 9.85 million US dollars, with agriculture and infrastructure sectors being the most severely affected.