Pakistan has been severely damaged by the increasing climate change and deforestation. The possibilities of GLOFs, flash floods, Cloud bursts and Urban Flooding have dangerously increased in the past few years. Asia Times reported that Pakistan lost 9,986 lives in the last two decades due to climate change. 3.8 billion dollars of economic loss was measured from 1998 to 2018. 27,000 hectares of forest was lost annually by Pakistan. In 2021, Pakistan lost 63.2 ha of tree cover, equivalent to 23.5 kt of CO₂ emissions as reported by the Global Forest Watch. Resultantly, Pakistan has been exposed to heavy spells of rain during the current monsoon season.
Major damages were reported from Sindh, Eastern Balochistan, Southern Punjab, some part of KP, and GB. Funding and reconstruction efforts will be a challenge for cash-strapped Pakistan, which is having to cut spending to ensure that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approves the release of much-needed bailout money. Dam could have helped in the current situation if it was constructed. The unchecked real estate projects, illegal construction and land grabbing have worsened the condition. It is estimated that Pakistan has faced approximately $5 billion damages from Sindh till Kashmir.
The UN agency Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the monsoon rains had displaced 184,000 people to relief camps across Pakistan. This disaster started in mid-June and at least 33 million people have been affected by, which is now being termed as the worst disaster in the last decade. 937 people have died from severe rain and flooding across the South Asian country, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
The monsoon rains have played havoc with the roads infrastructure disconnecting cities in Punjab, Balochistan and KP. Massive amount of crops have been destroyed while fields have been swept away. Unprecedented rains have caused devastation to human life and communication infrastructure especially in Balochistan. Quetta has been disconnected from electricity and gas services since a day. It is continuously raining since more than 30 hours and the current system might persist in Northern Balochistan for 12-16 more hours.
Sindh has broken most of its record dating back to British era making it the worst hit province. Monsoon 2022 has now become the wettest monsoon in the history. Padidan has recorded 1793mm of annual rainfall so far, making it the wettest in Pakistan. 1 Crore people were displaced in Sindh while 90% of this province’s crops alone were completely destroyed.
Major Flood Relief Efforts
Donation and distribution of 3 days dry ration of 1476 tons in flood-affected areas by concerned Formations. 633 tons of dry ration for Sindh and 492 tons for Balochistan were distributed. Army Relief Fund for flood affectees has also been established to facilitate collection of contributions from officers/Internal Institutions and onwards distribution to deserving individuals. DM Hub Stores of Hyderabad and Panoaqill have been readily distributed in Sindh to augment PDMA effort specially Dadu, Sanghar, Thatta, and Badin.
Pakistan Army has established more than 200 Medical Camps in different affected areas; 22,000 patients have been treated. Around 11,000 individuals have been accommodated so far. 14,000 non-food items and 73,000 food packets have been distributed across the country. Timely restoration of communication infrastructure by FWO in HQ 10 Corps AOR (KKH & JSR) in sync with NHA. 27,000 Tents, 31,000 Quilts, & 108,000 Food packets were also distributed.
International funding that has been committed to Pakistan flood relief include; US$ 350 million by World Bank, US$ 110 million by World Food Program, 40 million pounds by UK Aid, 3 Million dollars by UN Emergency Response Fund while China is providing 25000 tents apart from sending 10000.
Conclusion
In the aftermath of floods, those who are not directly affected by the floods will also face food shortage in the coming months as the crops have been wiped out throughout the country. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the country is living through a dystopian reality. Massive flood relief operations by the military, government efforts, NGOs, volunteers, funding from all across Pakistan and other parts of the world would help the nation to come out of these crises very soon.
