KARACHI:
Every monsoon, Pakistan’s cities repeat the same crisis. A few hours of heavy rain flood roads, submerge underpasses, paralyse traffic and disrupt businesses. Emergency teams pump the water out, public frustration rises, and once the streets dry, the problem is forgotten until the next downpour.
Urban flooding is often blamed on blocked drains and weak pumping systems. These failures matter, but the deeper problem is unplanned urban growth. Open land, gardens and natural soil have steadily been replaced by roads, plazas, parking areas and housing schemes. Rainwater that once seeped into the earth now rushes across concrete surfaces and overwhelms drainage networks within minutes.
Climate change is making rainfall more intense and unpredictable. Bigger drains may offer temporary relief, but cities cannot depend only on faster disposal. They must also reduce the volume of water entering the drainage system.
This is especially important because Pakistan faces another urban emergency: falling groundwater levels. Cities continue extracting water from underground reserves while allowing enormous quantities of monsoon rain to flow into drains and disappear. We therefore suffer from flooding during the rainy season and water scarcity during the rest of the year.
The two problems should be addressed together.
Rainwater harvesting, underground storage tanks and groundwater recharge wells can hold water close to where it falls. Rooftops, parks, schools, commercial centres and large residential plots can all contribute. Water collected from these surfaces can pass through simple filtration layers before gradually returning to underground aquifers.
Such systems are relatively affordable, require little energy and reduce pressure on drains. Development authorities should make them part of building regulations, provide standard designs and offer incentives for wider adoption.
Pakistan cannot continue pumping away the same water it desperately needs. Every monsoon brings both a warning and an opportunity. The solution lies not only in bigger drains and stronger pumps, but also in allowing the rain to return to the ground, where it can strengthen water security for future generations.
Dr Intikhab Ulfat
Karachi
