Daily Times

The menacing monsoon season is back to haunt Pakistan as flash floods in several districts swept away all signs of civilisation across Balochistan. That the province has been cut off from other parts of the country is nothing short of a heart-wrenching deja vu from last year when floods of biblical proprotions had sent shockwaves across the country last year.

As traffic remains suspended and the PDMA authorities claim a dispatch of relief goods and food items, one cannot help but wonder when would we acquire the resources to snap out of the perpetual reactive mode. Pakistan’s history is marred by recurring floods whose devastating impacts on everything from the hit community to agriculture to the fragile finances have been felt for a long, long time afterwards.

Since no power on earth can do anything to alter our geography or control the occurrence of floods, the onus lies on our capacity to mitigate damages. While timely and accurate forecasts may allow vulnerable communities to evacuate before any losses occur, simply ringing the alarm bells does not get the job done.

What Pakistan needs is a system that prepares it better against the menace of climate change. We cannot afford to be caught off-guard year after year after year. Sustainable solutions and more sustainable solutions, screams the writing on the wall as the world is comfortable in its role as a passive bystander to our miseries. The strong case made against our negligible contributions to global warming has been easily pushed to some far-off corner as pseudo-science proclaims that industrial greed did not accelerate the apocalyptic phenomenon.

From the looks of it, we have no one but ourselves and a few dedicated friends to rely on. Nevertheless, the task is becoming Herculean with each passing day. If the prevalent oblivion continues, the international community will be forced to open its doors to an unprecedented wave of climatic refugees. The doomsday clock is ticking away! *