Irfan Ahmad Rana

Integrated methodology for flood risk assessment and application in urban communities of Pakistan

Flood disasters and its consequent damages are on the rise globally. Pakistan has been experiencing an increase in flood frequency and severity along with resultant damages in the past. In addition to the regular practices of loss and damage estimation, current focus is on risk assessment of hazard-prone communities. Risk measurement is complex as scholars engaged in disaster science and management use different quantitative models with diverse interpretations. This study tries to provide clarity in conceptualizing disaster risk and proposes a risk assessment methodology with constituent components such as hazard, vulnerability (exposure and sensitivity) and coping/adaptive capacity. Three communities from different urban centers in Pakistan have been selected based on high flood frequency and intensity. A primary survey was conducted in selected urban communities to capture data on a number of variables relating to flood hazard, vulnerability and capacity to compute flood risk index. Households were categorized into different risk levels, such as can manage risk, can survive and cope, and cannot cope. It was found that risk levels varied significantly across the households of the three communities. Metropolitan city was found to be highly vulnerable as compared to smaller cities due to weak capacity. Households living in medium town had devised coping mechanisms to manage risk. The proposed methodology is tested and found operational for risk assessment of flood-prone areas and communities irrespective of locations and countries.

Assessing the socioeconomic and infrastructure development disparity – a case study of city districts of Punjab, Pakistan

ABSTRACT Socioeconomic and infrastructure development are the major sectors linked to prosperity of any region, while disparity in these sectors, in certain instances, hinder economic growth. This paper outlines an approach to examine development disparity in both spatial and temporal dimensions. A comparative analyses of socioeconomic and infrastructure development disparity among five city districts of Punjab province of Pakistan helped testing the proposed methods. The data variables and time periods (2002, 2007 and 2012) were selected based on the policy programmes introduced by the governments to reflect the closest factual position. Analyses revealed that development disparity prevailed, and the provincial capital (Lahore) remained the most developed. Moreover, the policy scrutiny indicate that despite the introduction of several national level policies and programmes, local Municipal Administrations have been incapable at handling the development issues. The proposed approach proved useful, and robust enough to be tested in a different regional setting.

Multidimensional Model for Vulnerability Assessment of Urban Flooding: An Empirical Study in Pakistan

Urban flooding has become a regular phenomenon in many towns and cities in the Asia Pacific region over the past years. Professionals associated with disaster management and climate change are at the forefront of addressing urban flooding. To reduce flood risks, vulnerability and its components must be understood. Vulnerability assessment methods are diverse and complex, with a varied nature of understanding the key terms used in various contexts, and this diversity ultimately reflects on the interpretation of results in research settings. Diverse interpretations and definitions exist in the disaster risk and climate change literature, complicating the process of astute and comprehensive vulnerability assessment. The main purpose of this study was to quantify vulnerability indicators and develop a multidimensional model for vulnerability assessment. Vulnerability is explored through the lens of five dimensions: social, economic, physical/infrastructural, institutional, and attitudinal. This methodology is applied to urban flooding in Pakistan, to verify the proposed model. Three study sites in urban areas with different population sizes, situated in high-risk flood zones in the Punjab Province of Pakistan were selected for empirical investigation. A household survey was conducted, and indices were developed for each dimension based on well-defined indicators. The proposed methodology for vulnerability assessment was tested and found operational. This method can be replicated irrespective of spatial scales and can be modified for other disasters by streamlining hazard specific indicators.

Content Analysis of Mission Statements - A Case of Pharmaceutical Sector Companies of Pakistan

The objective of this study was to investigate the quality of mission statements of the pharmaceutical sector companies listed in Pakistan stock exchange. In order to achieve this purpose, mission statements have been analyzed using a Nine Point Scale model given by the Fred R. David. Moreover, number of words and sentences used in the statements were also counted. As per published information of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), a total of 9 pharmaceutical companies are listed within this sector. In this study all listed companies were selected to make analysis. Data needed to make comparative analysis of mission statement were collected from websites of these companies. The findings show that most of the pharmaceutical sector companies of Pakistan are making the average level of score and extreme to incorporate their concerns for customer, product, survival, philosophy and self-concept in their mission statements. But they are giving less focus to technology, market, public image and employees. The length of a mission statements are (Min. = 33 and Max. = 120) in words.