Pakistan Calamitous Flood Crisis: Pakistan is currently swinging between a man-made disaster more than a natural one. The faulty development model created for the development of this country has put life in danger both in urban and rural places. Monsoons were badly affected by this pattern of development. This was the reason that the monsoon season, which always evokes romantic feelings like raindrops, walking in the rain and singing songs, has become another name for fear here.
Monsoon has always been an important part of folklore and poetry in Pakistan. In a way, it would not be wrong if monsoon is called the soul of the country’s culture, heritage and history. Apart from this, it is also related to the life, lifestyle and livelihood of this place. Historically, people in Pakistan were not afraid of the monsoon, but this time the horrific and heart-wrenching scene that the monsoon has brought, this fear will always remain in the minds of the people of Pakistan.
The relationship of nature with man is broken
From the early agricultural settlements in Mehrgarh to the centuries after the Indus Valley Civilization and the Mughal period, the country co-existed with seasonal floods and prolonged droughts, but ever since The country took the path of running on the path of development, since then there was no coexistence with the natural environment but competition started and in a way the relationship with it ended. As a result, the human relationship with the natural environment such as forests, waterways, water bodies and ecosystems was broken.
Gravity drives the flow of water, but Pakistan’s development model is emphasizing on defying gravity. The disruption of water flow here has resulted in settlements, infrastructure, economy, livelihoods and cattle all needlessly insecure and on the verge of extinction. This season of devastating rains and deadly floods as described in the Bible gives this country an opportunity to rethink and improve its development model.
The scale, scope and extent of floods of the year 2022 has exceeded the super floods of 2010. Monsoon rains have spread from Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Sindh, southern Punjab and Unprecedented devastation has occurred in all the areas of the country extending to Balochistan. There is no doubt that in many areas there had never been such heavy rain before. Because of this, the monsoon water is creating a storm in this neighboring country of India in a very fierce form.
There is a very big reason for this that obstacles have been created in the path of monsoon water here. If there is encroachment on the banks of the river, then a barrier has been created between the streams flowing between high areas, hills or mountains. The current situation due to floods in Pakistan has been created by itself. The flood water is only showing its right again on its way. Infrastructure and community assets are being destroyed. It also includes properties built after the 2010 Super Flood. For example, if the dams of Balochistan are taken, then 11 small dams are flowing here, damaged or destroyed.
Lessons not learned from the super floods of 2010
Frankly speaking, even after the 2010 super flood, Pakistan has not learned or implemented any lessons for infrastructure development. No special disaster-proof plan has been made to avoid disaster. No channel was built for rain water, flood water in villages, nearby areas, small towns and big cities. This affected the sewerage lines and the drinking water got contaminated. Electric poles have been uprooted and there is no plan to save them from floods. Roads and railway tracks here are often without culverts. They keep obstructing the flow of water. The land here is being used arbitrarily on that. The result is an increase in urban areas with large housing societies and unplanned settlements of villagers. This type of unwanted construction on the land also often affects the annual flood cycles.
Above all, four dangerous things were done for the development of the country. If they are called sins, then there will be no exaggeration. First, the allocation of resources was not done properly in the plan made for development from top to bottom. The second was the disparity of development plans, which are often randomly selected. Third, old and poor standards were adopted for infrastructure development. It was assumed that it would handle the growing needs, would face them. At number four is the Statistical Development Model. It refers to such a political system that maintains only strong control over social and economic matters. In this type of model, local governance institutions or national resilience standards are seen as mere alternatives.
Not only the change of the weather here, the only culprit of the flood
Climate-induced floods occur mainly for two important reasons. They also bring changes in the pattern of monsoon. The first important reason is hot air which is the reason for more rain. As global air temperatures rise, clouds can take in more water vapor. This can result in heavy rain or torrential downpours. From this basic knowledge of science, many climate models predict that the South Asian Monsoons are bound to bring continuous heavy and unseasonal rains. The second important reason is the increase in sea water. The increase in water in the sea also increases the floods in the coastal areas. The very high level of temperature in the sea also increases the temperature of the clouds very much and as a result, the clouds rain on very large parts of the land.
This is the reason why the recurrent floods in Balochistan are often attributed to these Westernly Weather Influences rather than the traditional East Monsoon originating from the Bay of Bengal. . This change in the weather cycle seems to have increased the intensity and frequency of floods in the generally non-monsoon regions of Balochistan. Climate change is fueling floods in Pakistan . Flood has indeed emerged as the worst kind of climate induced disaster for this country, perhaps it would not be wrong to call it the deadliest. This is making the naturally occurring floods more destructive. Along with this, frequent occurrence of heavy floods is also being encouraged.
Recent studies after floods in the Elbe and other rivers in East Germany estimated that floods are likely to increase 9 times more due to global climate change. Understanding floods is complicated, but if it is said that floods occur only due to change in weather patterns, then it is not so. The reasons for this also depend on the location of the infrastructure, its design and the quality of the materials used in it. On the arrival of any disaster, if the system prepared to face it is weak, then any kind of disasters, whether it is man-made or natural, will cause terrible damage. This system of Pakistan is weak. Along with this, one thing is that it is very costly to rebuild the infrastructure, houses, roads, dams, embankments, power lines and bridges that were destroyed by the floods.
Pak government is doing away with its failure
The issue with Pakistan is that the federal and provincial governments are not ready to accept this catastrophic flood as a major failure of the public sector development plan. These governments do not take long to immediately hold climate change accountable for this disaster. Whereas, poor design of buildings, guidelines given for construction, standards of construction material, and of course unplanned human settlements also have an important role in the floods and heavy damage caused here.
Pakistan is not ready to accept that its development model is not working. This model of development is neither disaster friendly nor is it smart from the point of view of climate change. Policy makers, public policy analysts and even the Pakistani media are citing misleading and fatalistic myths for flood damage. They are sitting as if this had to happen. As such, no steps can be taken to reduce the vulnerabilities of dealing with natural disaster.
The response of Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments to the damage to property, livestock, homes and standing crops was quick and predictable. Emergency supplies were quickly extended through disaster-management officers. After that, cash grants were given to the flood victims through the Benazir Income Support Program, but neither the need to assess the economic loss nor the need for climate-resilient reconstruction was considered. The focus was on cost.
Significantly, after the earthquake of 2005, Pakistan’s previous efforts to make the country better again have not been successful. In this way, with what face can the national and provincial policy makers of Pakistan say that we are doing our best to deal with the damage caused by the floods. We are preparing better to deal with this disaster caused by climate.
As architect Arif Hasan recently said, “There will be floods again.” Frequent floods will prove to be very costly for this country already facing financial crisis. Only giving cash grants to the flood victims is not going to work. Along with this, it is necessary to focus on five important areas to avoid the risk of such disasters and to insure life and property. These sectors include people earning livelihood, livestock, standing crops, small and medium enterprises.
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