Monsoon season in Pakistan is more considered a predictable menace for the public which suffers the whole of the year for the basic facility of water and all of a sudden water excess takes away their lives. Pakistan was placed fifth among the nations that have been most adversely affected by extreme weather events over the previous few decades. From 14 June, as per NDMA, there are 592 casualties, 974 injured, 2846.9 (km) of roads, 126 bridges,43 shops, 51,659 houses, and 29,974 livestock affected in Pakistan. Major damages are held in Balochistan and Sindh which are mostly water-deficient areas, where people lack the basic necessity of water. These people desire a small amount of water the whole year and then a span of floods destroy everything.
In the past, Pakistan has seen numerous disasters. For instance, on November 1, 1970, a tropical cyclone hit what was now East Pakistan. It was the fiercest cyclone ever seen, killing somewhere between 5 and 6 lac persons. Similar to this, 1.2 million people in Baluchistan experienced drought in 2000, and over 100 people perished, primarily from dehydration. In another instance, the super cyclone “Kyarr” in the Arabian Sea in 2019 rapidly intensified, therefore, Karachi and its coastal regions were devastated by it. Minor flooding was also recorded in Karachi’s coastal areas. According to data, Pakistan has experienced losses and damages from natural and man-made disasters totaling more than $18 billion since 2005. Every year number of people suffer through these natural disasters and wait for the other year to experience more.
The water cycle disruptions, glacial melt, and severe rains are leading to floods along with the contribution of unplanned and unapproved development. As a result, there has been significant harm done to the economy, social structures, infrastructure, human lives, and means of subsistence. The immediate effects on sustainability, national development, food security, and access to natural resources are in addition to the loss of human life and property, and all together amplify the threat.
Despite having a disaster management system in Pakistan. There are several gaps that enable the system to perform effectively. The government’s response to catastrophe depends upon Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reform. But the institutions lack the authority, capacity, and creativity to manage the alerts or take preemptive measures. Along with the adoption of a reconstruction and recovery strategy, the government should build measures to step up development work. According to a survey, by 2060, the temperature will rise by up to 1.4°–3.7°C, resulting in unpredictable precipitation that could decrease by 20% to increase by more than 40%. But there seems no prioritization of such threats.
People commonly criticize the early warning system for not being able to stop the immense destruction, but the infrastructure needed to deal with such disasters and its capacity to do so are the real problems. Although institutions provide early warnings, how can they relocate massive residents of a given location, relocate entire cities, or preserve the infrastructure of a specific area? Early warnings can only be beneficial when there are reforms and an effective mechanism in place to deal with emergencies.
The Asia-Pacific area has had numerous, deadly floods that have caused significant financial damage. The Asia-Pacific region contains 10 of the top 15 nations with the greatest exposure to yearly river floods worldwide. These are India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Cambodia in order of population exposure to flood risk. According to the Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019, flood-related losses would rise significantly, and by 2030, the situation is anticipated to get worse. Losses will be two to three times bigger in China, India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan than in the reference year of 2010. Significant measures need to be taken to avoid such emergencies in the long term. The prevention and mitigation of flood losses necessitate extensive measures, such as building dams and dyke across waterways. along with increased capacity building among first responders and vulnerable communities, as well as greater awareness. Climate change must be taken into account in development projects, with water management being a prime concern for all interventions in the infrastructure, commercial, and social sectors. The UNEP’s Adaption Gap Report2021 emphasizes the urgent need to increase funding for climate adaptation. Emphasizing the UNEP’s work in the field of climate change heavily relies on ecosystems-based strategies, such as the creation of artificial wetlands, the creation of designated retention zones, and the restoration of vegetation cover to assist reduce the effects of floods.
It’s also crucial to take precautions like sealing windows and doors on lower floors of buildings and installing retention valves on sewage connections to stop flooding from backing up into houses. Levees should be adjusted to provide room for flood plains, which are large open areas that can act as overflow reservoirs during floods, rather than being built up to contain rivers. Extreme weather events can damage infrastructure that was developed decades earlier or even just lately. The new generation infrastructure, which combines grey and green materials, lessens the effects of flooding. Dikes need to be strengthened, and buildings, roads, and urban infrastructure need to be climate-proofed in order to significantly increase flood resilience. Further, rural areas need more attention to take measures by building dams, and infrastructure that can store water and adjust the access to water. Successful emergency management relies upon preparedness, experience, and expertise. Hence the loss is not the result of a lack of potential but the consequence of negligence.
