Abstract:
Flash floods and cloudburst are counted as the most devastating natural hazards
and the climate change impacts make this hazard more vulnerable, when it hits the
densely populated cities of the developing countries, it damages the property and results
many casualties. During monsoon season Islamabad receives unpredicted intense
precipitation, which causes flooding in the low-lying areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi
along Nullah Lai, while Islamabad is the master planned city and affects less. Climate
change impacts cause’s extreme precipitation events and unplanned infrastructure
development occur due to rapid urbanization while completely altering the natural land
structure. This research majorly emphasizes on the causes and effects of flooding and its
impacts on the natural and built environment of Islamabad. Study included the qualitative
content analysis of flash flooding and analyzed the extreme water events of Nullah Lai
for the period of 2010 to 2020. The main purpose to conduct this research was to
determine the causes and effects of increase in flash flooding, for this purpose scientific
piece of writings (scientific published journal articles, websites and reports) relevant to
the specific concept of the research problem and research question were reviewed and
analyzed. The study found the natural and anthropogenic factors and urbanization as the
main causes of increase in flash flooding, which suggests installing modern technology to
predict intense natural weather patterns (precipitation) and must adapt sustainable and
resilient infrastructure to control and mitigate future adverse impacts of urban floods in
the rapidly urbanized areas.
