Punjab worst hit by alarming rise in climate shocks

Local disparities in health, education, population services widen

LAHORE:

Punjab’s most climate-exposed districts are slipping deeper into vulnerability as repeated environmental shocks, including heatwaves, floods, drought and smog cycles, hit them amid fragile service delivery, a report has warned.

A review of new district-level evidence presented by an NGO, the Population Council reveals that climate change is now the central force reshaping access to health, education and population services across much of the province.

According to the report, South Punjab stands out as the epicentre of the unfolding crisis. Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Bahawalnagar and Dera Ghazi Khan districts have endured back-to-back climate disasters that have crippled essential services.

The past summer’s heatwave, one of the harshest in recent decades, pushed temperatures above 50°C, burning crops, drying water sources and amplifying medical emergencies. Field officials reported widespread cases of dehydration, heat strokes and food insecurity as thousands of low income families lost their seasonal earnings. An agricultural collapse in the cotton and sugarcane belts forced many households to migrate temporarily or take loans to survive, tightening the cycle of poverty in areas already classified as high-risk.

The monsoon season delivered another blow. Flash floods breached protective dykes in several areas, washing away link roads, destroying school buildings and cutting off entire villages for days.

Officials admitted that lady health workers were unable to reach dozens of flood-hit union councils, leaving pregnant women and new mothers without counselling, vaccination or family planning services. Several rural Basic Health Units remained inaccessible and the few that stayed open struggled without medicines and staff, exposing how quickly essential systems collapse under climate pressures.

Central Punjab faced a different but equally damaging climate assault.

Cities including Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Sheikhupura remained blanketed in hazardous smog for weeks.

Hospitals reported overwhelming patient loads as respiratory infections, asthma flare ups, eye ailments and cardiac complications surged.

Lahore’s major facilities recorded tens of thousands of pollution-related cases, prompting doctors to warn that the health burden from environmental toxicity is rising faster than the handling capacity.

The investigative review found that urban health infrastructure is poorly equipped to manage prolonged climate linked emergencies, especially when smog seasons now extend longer each year.

Population Council Senior Director Dr Ali Mir stated that Pakistan’s development agenda cannot move forward without confronting the district-level inequities that climate change is magnifying.

His assessment underscores a broader pattern uncovered during the investigation – climate shocks are not producing new inequalities, they are widening old ones that were ignored for years.

Investigators, reviewing district data, indicated that both rural and urban margins are being pushed into crisis due to lack of climate responsive planning.

In several South Punjab districts, school rebuilding after floods remains pending months after the monsoon, delaying children’s return to classrooms. In central Punjab, authorities failed to decisively enforce emission regulations.

In peri-urban settlements, residents reported declining water quality and rising skin infections, which are indicators of climate-linked sanitation failures.

Health expert Ikramull Ahad warned that without urgent district-level interventions, Punjab could slip into long-term human development regression.

He pressed for climate resilient infrastructure, stronger health workforce deployment, early warning mechanisms for heatwaves and floods, and integrated district planning that prioritises women and children groups, most affected by service disruption.

But officials conceded that progress had been slow, funding thin and political focus shifted quickly once crises faded from headlines.