Floods season

Preparation for floods in Pakistan has always been a case of promises made after the deluge. Despite the country facing devastating floods every year since the mega-flood of 2010, we have entered each monsoon season unprepared. Once again, it has taken the deaths of at least 21 people last week for the PDMAs and provincial governments to wake up to the threat. Once again, the response remains one of saying the right things – which can just not be seen on the ground. How else can we see the statement from the Punjab PDMA head that they were fully prepared for floods in the context of the 21 deaths already in rain-related incidents? With more rain set to hit Punjab, lower Sindh, Balochistan, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, ordinary citizens can tell that the country is even more unprepared than before. The urban flooding in Karachi last week too is an indicator of how shockingly woeful the Sindh government’s planning is in the case of anything more serious than two days of heavy rain. There were fatalities in Karachi, where electricity issues compounded the fact that it is near impossible to go onto the flooded streets. Nine people have also lost their lives in flash flooding in Hub in Balochistan while four people drowned in Bajaur in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This is apparently what adequate floods preparation looks like in Pakistan. The reality is a rather grim one. Basic measures, such as the creation of dykes and warning systems, are simply not in place before the flooding season hits. Rescue operations have been reported throughout the country, which already suggests a dire situation. But we can trust that no emergency measures will be put in place before there is major flooding in many regions. Only 10 percent of embankments proposed to be rehabilitated or constructed in 2015 have been built. Not only do floods cause a heavy loss of life, the economic impact of flooding is almost three to four percent of the federal budget; this can be avoided if preparation has been done in advance. Hundreds of live are lost each monsoon, pointing to an astonishing level of disregard for human life at the state level. Another monsoon is beckoning. The Met Department has predicted that rains will continue. If the level of preparedness is as poor as it is, another flooding disaster would need a miracle to be avoided.