Learn to live with floods: IRSA member

Disasters like floods cannot be fully controlled, therefore, "we must learn to live with them," said Engineer Ehsan Leghari, Sindh's representative in the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), while addressing a seminar.

He said that while environmental changes contribute to natural disasters, weak governance and lack of disaster preparedness also worsen the situation.

The seminar was jointly organised by MetaMeta Research Netherlands and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh to review lessons learnt from the catastrophic 2022 floods and to discuss ways to minimise future losses.

Leghari pointed out that the incomplete Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) and Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) projects, weak barrage embankments, and widespread encroachments along canal banks were among the key reasons behind repeated flooding in Sindh. "The floods of 2010 and 2022 have exposed serious vulnerabilities. Now is the time to formulate a comprehensive strategy for flood preparedness to mitigate future damages," he stressed.