SOME ASPECTS OF MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS ON KUNHAR RIVER WATERSHED
Anwar Masrur, PFS (I) Watershed Management Specialist, Pakistan Forest Institute, Peshawar.
Summary Kunhar is one of the main tributaries of river Jhelum and originates at a height of about 14,000 feet. The catchment known as Kaghan valley, has an area of 1011 square miles, of which, 988 square miles lie in Mansehra and Abbottabad tehsils of Hazara district and the remaining in Azad Kashmir. The total length of the valley is 80 aerial miles and width varies from 10 to 30 aerial miles. The catchment is predominantly mountainous with steep and precipitous slopes. In order to provide numerical data of practical value to the hydrologists, the present trend is to describe the drainage basins and channel networks by means of quantitative methods instead of purely qualitative and deductive studies. The paper describes some aspects of morphometric analysis of Kunhar river watershed including stream order, bifurcation ratio, drainage density, constant of channel maintenance, stream frequency, shape, slope and elevation.