The floods season

Heavy rains around Pakistan as well as the release of water into the Chenab River by India have created the real possibility of serious floods across the country. Punjab’s major rivers are already in high flood while flash floods in Balochistan have led to the loss of at least eight lives as a number of villages remain submerged. The late monsoon this time around has begun to cause havoc. Once again, the government appears to be ill-prepared for whatever is to come. Flood warnings have been issued and a number of reports have been sought but there is no sense of what to expect. With more than a hundred people already dead and hundreds of villages submerged, the current flooding situation would be treated with more seriousness in any other country. In Pakistan, it seems that the government will only respond concretely once the floods become out of control. It is still unclear what scale of flooding the government is anticipating. This is troubling to say the least as it means that despite six years of constant flooding, there is no mechanism available to predict how bad a particular monsoon flooding will be. PDMAs have been reported to have been ‘monitoring’ the flood situation but they should be able to do more than that.

Why do the government and the NDMA not have any preparation protocol in place? With the Tarbela and Mangla dams almost at their maximum capacity, the rains expected in the catchment areas of major rivers will require the release of water from these dams into rivers Indus and Jhelum. While one would hope that this will not cause a major flooding situation like 2010, the government should be able to predict the scenario that will play out. What is required is strong coordination between the Met Department, disaster management authorities, district administration and the area locals. In most situations, it seems that links between government departments do not exist, let alone any attempt strong ties with communities who might be impacted. Throwing money at a flood once it has already started is a waste. The real work of flood preparation must take place prior to the floods season. We must remember that the floods of 2010, which affected 21 million people, are possible again. There is nothing that has been done structurally to prevent such a possibility. The ongoing floods situation must remind the government of its long-term responsibility to ensure that flooding does not occur again.