Developing countries like Pakistan are known for their reactive management, quick fixes, and poor planning. Climate change has further exposed Pakistan’s sense of complacency. A German Watch Report of the long-term Climate Change Risk Index 2020 puts Pakistan at number 8. Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Pakistan’s vulnerability has continuously been pointed out by various reports. The apathy of the government remains constant despite many warnings. Currently, climate change has started showing its starkness in the shape of floods. Floods in Pakistan are highly motivated by the rainfall in the monsoon season. According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), this monsoon has witnessed 133pc more rainfall than average in Pakistan. Sadly, 932 people have lost their lives and more than 33 million have been affected by the flash floods. Another estimate of NDMA maintains that torrential rains have badly affected more than 100 districts.
Most importantly, Balochistan has been hit the hardest followed by Sindh, South Punjab, and KP. According to Al-Jazeera news report, Balochistan’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) maintains more than 200 people have died, including 58 children. Additionally, 10,000 people have been displaced from their homes. Furthermore, floods have damaged 40,000 houses of which 20,000 houses have been destroyed. Nearly 700,000 acres of crops have been devastated. The province has suffered the loss of a whopping $10m. According to a local news channel, 400 mud houses have collapsed and 10,000 people have been displaced from their villages in Sindh.
Furthermore, South Punjab is also going through tough times. Commissioner Muhammad Usman Anwar maintains that flooding in the irrigation system “Rod Kohi” has damaged 278 villages. Similarly, 572,000 acres of land have been destroyed and crops on 198, 000 acres have also been damaged. Some heart-wrenching videos are circulating on the internet in which hapless people can be seen in severe pain. The Pakistan Army, FC troops, NGOs and the civil administration are extending help to the flood-stricken people. The death toll is increasing continuously. So, the above-mentioned figures are not static.
Needless to say, people’s ignorance of climate change and poor governance has landed Pakistan into troubled waters. Political vendetta has sucked the political vision and made the leadership unfit for resolving hot issues. One fears if former PM Imran Khan comes into power in future, he would again waste much of his time in pushing opposition against the wall. This vicious cycle of political vengeance would continue unabated. We are in dire need to make a two-pronged strategy: on one hand, we have to focus on climate change, and on the other hand, we need a robust flood management system.Â
Unfortunately, Pakistan has a long history of floods that could not make us budge an inch. According to the Federal Flood Commission, Pakistan witnessed 20 major floods from 1950 to 2012 (62 years). In 62 years, 599,459 square kilometers of the area was affected and 11,239 people lost their lives. Consequently, the national economy has suffered a loss of over Rs 39 billion. Another important thing to note is that Pakistan witnesses the loss of $8 million annually due to the absence of a disaster management system. We are not good at learning from history and reactive management remains our only permanent policy.
This time floods are likely to bring more damage to the country compared to past floods. As the climate is deteriorating day by day, calamities would be increasing in the future. Precipitation patterns are sharply changing due to climate change. Human activities are mainly responsible for climate change. UN report 2019 maintains that “Human actions have badly altered 75 percent of the total land”. Deforestation is one of the worst human activities that are contributing to climate change. According to the press, “Pakistan’s deforestation rate has been estimated between 0.2 and 0.5 percent per annum which is the highest in the world”. In our country, neither the government nor people take climate change seriously.
Painfully, the media, especially electronic, did not play its much-needed role in sensitizing people about climate change. Even at this time when floods have decimated a crucial part of Pakistan, the media is focusing on political matters. We have become a highly polarized society and to add insult to injury, the media has also lost impartiality. Journalists and anchors seem to be political agents or part of political parties. Social worker Zafar Abbas said with dismay that when people were drowning in floods, the media was presenting the news of arrested PTI leader Shehbaz Gill.
He said that a huge quantity of ration is required to cater to flood-stricken people. This time demands unity and cooperation among the citizens. No doubt, different organizations have come forward to assist their deprived brothers and sisters. Besides the positive response, some negative cases like earning profit at the cost of flood-stricken people are also seen.
Trampling moral values at the time of crisis is a common thing in our country. Ironically, if profit seekers come to know that tomorrow is Qiyamat, says one meme doing the Internet rounds, the prices of Qurans, rosaries and prayer mats would sky-rocket overnight. This is the psychology of our profit seekers who hardly care about humanity.
Needless to say, people’s ignorance of climate change and poor governance has landed Pakistan into troubled waters. Political vendetta has sucked the political vision and made the leadership unfit for resolving hot issues. One fears if former PM Imran Khan comes into power in future, he would again waste much of his time in pushing opposition against the wall. This vicious cycle of political vengeance would continue unabated. We are in dire need to make a two-pronged strategy: on one hand, we have to focus on climate change, and on the other hand, we need a robust flood management system.
