Dealing with monsoon

There was a time when the arrival of the monsoon was greeted almost exclusively as a blessing. Today, it arrives with a sense of foreboding. With the death toll from rain-related incidents crossing 100 since late June, this year's monsoon has yet again exposed Pakistan's preparedness. The country is confronting a climate that is becoming increasingly hostile, where torrential downpours have become the new normal rather than the exception.

To attribute every casualty solely to official negligence would be simplistic. The sheer intensity of the rainfall witnessed across parts of the country has tested the limits of infrastructure and emergency response alike. Even the most prepared administrations can struggle when faced with weather events that are growing more erratic. Climate change has fundamentally altered the character of the monsoon. Yet acknowledging this reality cannot become an excuse for accepting such losses as inevitable. The latest figures released by NDMA reveal that more than half of those who died were killed in house and roof collapses. Others lost their lives to electrocution or drowning. These deaths point not only to the ferocity of the rains but also to the frailty of the environment in which millions of Pakistanis are forced to live. The challenge before Pakistan is therefore no longer one of preparedness alone but of adaptation. Much of the country's infrastructure was designed for a climate that no longer exists.

Such a situation demands a different approach to development itself. Climate resilience must become a central consideration in policy and urban planning. Building regulations must account for increasingly severe weather rather than historical averages. Drainage networks require comprehensive upgrading instead of seasonal patchwork. Settlements in high-risk areas must be addressed through long-term planning rather than temporary relief once disaster strikes. Adaptation is expensive, but the cost of inaction is measured in lives lost every year.