KARACHI:
Since the start of this year, Pakistan has already witnessed extreme weather events with unprecedented heatwaves and drought-like conditions throughout March and April. The heat waves raised the risk of wildfires and resulted in forest fires in some parts of the country.
Since July, most parts of the country have experienced heavy downpours that resulted in flash floods. Currently, Balochistan, Sindh, south Punjab, and parts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are devastated by the flooding. Balochistan has been cut off from the rest of the country as most of its highways have been damaged. It is extremely difficult for non-governmental organisations and relief teams to reach people in flood-affected areas. Residents do not have access to food, clean water, shelter, or medicines. They are forced to sleep under open skies and are faced with the risk of starvation. Both provincial and federal government’s response has been poor thus far. Even the national and provincial disaster management authorities have fallen short of their responsibilities.
The absence of climate resilient infrastructure, poor disaster response, and the government’s inability to provide relief to the victims demonstrate our unpreparedness for climate change. This is alarming because such events are expected to become more frequent and intense in the coming years. All stakeholders must take this as a warning sign and work on providing relief to flood victims across the country. Roads, highways, and other critical infrastructure must be repaired, people’s homes must be rebuilt, and they should be compensated for their losses. It is high time that the government took climate change seriously and formed a comprehensive disaster management mechanism.
Ghazanfar Soomro
Shikarpur
Published in The Express Tribune, August 27th, 2022.
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