Natural catastrophe
During the last month, heavy monsoon rains have played havoc in most parts of the country, as per the NDMA's daily situation report. The study says torrential rains, and the ensuing flooding and landslides in different parts of the country have killed at least 163 people, including 66 children, since mid-June. Most rain-related deaths - 61 - were reported from Sindh where urban flooding in Karachi is said to have killed almost 50 people.
Intense rains and subsequent flash floods are also to blame for the damage to nearly 1,600 houses - mainly in Balochistan and KP - in addition to the destruction of roads, schools and public hospitals. Hundreds of affected people have been displaced and had to be evacuated and shifted to safety. Many in the rural areas of Sindh and elsewhere lost their crops while scores of tourists were stranded in the north owing to road closures following landslides.
Scores of villages in that province were reported to have been submerged, with the provincial government declaring 20 districts as 'calamity hit'. In KP, the death toll, according to the NDMA, had spiked to 48 by Sunday, while fatalities in Balochistan, Punjab, GB and AJK were 17, 16, 11 and 10 respectively.
Floods of varying intensity over the last several years have become an annual feature in Pakistan, largely because of the changing climate, environmental degradation and deforestation. Similarly, urban flooding has become a regular threat for residents of cities owing to poor town planning and lack of investment in infrastructure.
On top of that, the performance of national, provincial and district institutions responsible for disaster management has been less than satisfactory when it comes to extending relief to affected communities and helping in their rehabilitation. Little has changed in this sphere even after the creation of disaster management bodies at the national and provincial levels after the devastating Kashmir earthquake in 2005. Several factors such as shortage of financial resources to acquire machinery and equipment needed for rescue work, as well as lack of trained manpower, are said to be responsible for their poor performance whenever disaster strikes.
The situation demands that the government formulate an integrated strategy for mitigating and managing disasters like floods instead of confining its response to just providing relief to the affected people, which can never be adequate. It is time the federal and provincial governments moved beyond piecemeal, isolated flood-management measures, which have until now been limited mostly to annual repairs of flood-protection embankments. The long-term strategy should focus on strengthening the flood forecast system based on the extensive use of technology - such as the telemetry system - for more accurate weather and flood predictions to protect vulnerable communities. That should be followed by developing the disaster management authorities' capacity so that they can provide timely relief to those affected and rehabilitate them as quickly as possible.