After experiencing devastating and disastrous floods in 2022, Pakistan is on the verge of witnessing yet another potential flood disaster. Disastrous floods have always been a serious threat for Pakistan which has resulted in affecting millions of Pakistanis. Similarly, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Pakistan is expected to experience 40-60 percent more rainfall than usual during the coming monsoon. The fact is that the main causes of flooding in Pakistan have mostly been heavy rainfall, climate change, storm surge, urbanization, deforestation and a lot more. In fact, the listed causes were also the main factors behind the catastrophic floods in Pakistan in 2010, 2014 and 2022 which resulted in displacing and affecting millions of Pakistanis.
According to the predictions of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, several regions of Pakistan are likely to experience severe rainfall, similar to the 2022 floods. Moreover, multiple sources claim that the abnormal rains are expected to begin in July and persist till August.
The upcoming rainfall might not be as alarming or devastating but still, it might be extremely disastrous for calamity-hit areas.
The good news is that the flash floods of the coming monsoon are anticipated to be less severe than the deluges in 2010 and 2022. Additionally, the floods of 2010 affected nearly 20 million people, causing approximately 2000 deaths and a lot more deficits. Meanwhile, the 2020 catastrophic floods caused approximately 1696 fatalities, and injuries to 12867, the floods also affected 33 million people and destroyed around 4 million acres of crops. These events have had a massive negative impact on the population and economy of Pakistan. Comparatively, the coming rainfall might not be as alarming or devastating as the mentioned ones were but still, it might be extremely disastrous for calamity-hit areas.
Currently, Pakistan doesn’t claim to be in a stable condition to ill afford another deluge like 2010 and 2022; interestingly, the expected floods are less than 2 months away which can be categorized as dangerous for the residents of Pakistan. From now on, the government of Pakistan should prepare to implement multiple safety measures to combat or resist flash floods strongly.
To ensure the protection of the citizens, the government of Pakistan should aim to minimize the disastrous effects of flash floods. Pakistan should learn from past experiences and should start implementing safety measures such as, reinforcing drainage systems and water management infrastructure, improving flood forecasting and warning systems and conducting public awareness campaigns to educate the people about protecting themselves during the time of floods.
The writer is a freelance columnist.