Daily Times

Once celebrated as a divine blessing for parched lands and exasperated farmers, monsoon rains have now become synonymous with utter devastation. As PMD issues yet another warning of a heavy rain spell due to Arabia Sea currents and the risk of urban flooding runs high, one cannot help but wonder what would have to happen for the state to consider changing its approach towards the devastation caused by extreme weather events. Balochistan stands on the brink of collapse with hundreds of houses collapsed and four straight days of downpours taking their toll on small dams. The battered province remains cut off from other areas. Meanwhile, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the situation remains just as dire as the national disaster agencies continue to ring alarm bells over flooding to persist. There’s a lot that still needs to be covered for those tens of thousands whose houses, crops, animals and lifelong savings were washed by merciless waves last year. That a natural disaster of biblical proportions had attacked Pakistan with all its force refused to resonate with the international community. Their response remained cautious despite the number of times the UN tried to make a case for the hapless victims. Not many appeared interested in helping a languishing economy recover at least a portion of the $30 billion lost in crucial infrastructure. The $10 billion pledged to Pakistan in Geneva (thanks to determined efforts by the climate change and foreign ministries) has yet to wriggle its way

into our coffers as everything from pseudoscience to political commentaries is being tried by the Global North to shirk from its obligations.

Despite its negligible contributions to global warming, a suffocated Pakistan struggles to survive on the edge of a precipice. But every new blast of rain pierces through with the tenacity of a million tiny arrows. *