In a flash | Political Economy

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In recent weeks, the monsoon rains across Pakistan have left a path of destruction, which has once again posed a dangerous threat from the country’s poor disaster management system and climate change. The National Disaster Management Authority has confirmed that about 400 people were killed and more than 6,900 were rescued during this latest monsoon magic, which began in northern Pakistan later last week.

During this year’s monsoon season, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 356 of them, a mountainous province in the northwest facing cloud bursts, flash floods, power strikes and land sliding.

The NDMA situation also revealed that 707 Pakistanis have been killed, since the beginning of the monsoon on June 26. This has highlighted the loss of lives in just two months. These figures not only represent individual tragedies, but also represent national failure to expect and prevent climate -affected disasters, which are no longer unusual.

The state, once again, has been forced into emergency relief measures. Armed forces have set up logistics hubs and medical camps, with helicopters and medicines have been transported to other inaccessible areas. According to Army spokesman LT General Ahmad Sharif Chowdhury, six infantry units and eight Frontier Constabulary units are engaged in direct relief work. He said that 6,903 men, women and children were saved from drowning or flowing and 6,300 people were immediately treated medical treatment.

A comprehensive survey is underway to assess the damage to homes and infrastructure. The results are expected by the beginning of September. The NDMA has admitted that more than 50 % of the land sliding has not yet been cleared. NDMA Travel Advisory has warned tourists against the use of weak parts of the roads in Krakoram Highway and Torghar, Batagram, Shangla, Gilgit, Hanza and Skardo, where many bridges and scaddo are in the scaddo, including Sarumo Bridge in Ghanche.

Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority has issued heavy monsoon rains in Rawalpindi, Murray, Galit, Atak, Chakwal, Jhelum, Gujranwala, Lahore, Gujarat and Sialkot by August 19-22.

Multan, Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan are being predicted with thunderstorms, which are probably the flash floods, urban drowning and river levels. Citizens have been warned against unnecessary travel and have advised the children to keep the children away from flooded areas and direct electricity wires. These measures show an familiar pattern: repeated warnings, reaction relief and temporary recovery without solving deep structural risks.

Monsoon destruction is neither accidental nor isolated. Climate change has changed Pakistan’s rain cycles, and once the forecasting samples have turned into unstable, extraordinary events.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank’s climate risk -country profile (2021) ranks 18th out of 191 countries in terms of overall destruction, reflecting its high exhibition and limited competition potential. It is also ranked eighth in the risk of flooding globally, which regularly faces rivers in the Sindh system and floods in the snow and mountainous areas.

The floods of 2022, the most devastating of modern history, sank one -third of Pakistan’s land, which displaced 8 million people, killing 1,700 people (one -third of their children) and estimating $ 14.9 billion, loss of $ 15.2 billion, which caused $ 16.3 billion. The most difficult affected sector .6 5.6 billion lived. Agriculture and cattle for $ 3.7 billion; And transport and communication for $ 3.3 billion. Only Sindh contributed 70 % of the loss.

Pakistan’s weakness goes beyond the rain. Feeding the system of Indus River, the Hindukash-Koram-Hamalian mountain ranges are melting at dangerous rates. According to MDPI Research, between 1992 and 2022, the glaciers in the region lost 816 square kilometers (31 %) each year on average 27 square kilometers each year. This rapid melting, which is driven by increasing temperatures and black carbon, is at risk of availability of long -term water for agriculture and drinking.

The rapid slust of Pakistan’s largest reserves is increasing this issue. As reported in 2022, Tarbilla Dam has lost more than 40 % of its designed capacity due to the accumulation of 10 billion tonnes of slot. It reduces the ability to store flood water, manage irrigation or generate hydropower. In this way, the country is not only facing immediate flood disasters, but also has long -term structural risks to water safety and energy supply.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank’s climate risk -country profile (2021) ranks 18th out of 191 countries in terms of overall destruction, reflecting its high exhibition and limited competition potential.

The crisis does not end with the flood. Air pollution, agricultural burns, industrial emissions and smoke of vehicles have become a chronic threat in Punjab. In every winter, the mutation decreases rapidly, prevents transportation, damages the lungs and increases another layer in Pakistan’s environmental burden. Meanwhile, the risk increases in the flood fields and in the informal settlements on the shores of the rivers, and the risks increase during heavy rainfall, and repeatedly trapped the poor in the cycle of destruction.

Disaster management has led to a reaction rather than caution. Rescue packages and rescue missions dominate evidence, while systemic planning, zoning rules, and flexible infrastructure have been separated. This approach maintains a cycle where every monsoon causes billions of rupees to lead to chaos, casualties and losses.

Despite less than 1 % partnership in global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan is one of the most affected nations with climate disasters. The UN Secretary -General, during his visit to 2022, “made Pakistan a” climate chaos. ” Nevertheless, despite repeated recognition globally, climate financing is limited.

The World Bank’s country’s climate and development report for Pakistan highlights that without immediate and flexible investment, climate shocks can deepen millions to poverty. The UN’s loss and loss funds and multilateral climate finance mechanisms are designed to help the weaker countries like Pakistan, but they need strong governance, transparent mechanisms and reliable adaptation strategies to tap.

Pakistan is often accused of lacking in harmony, corruption and implementation capability. If the government can demonstrate the risk of destruction, smart agriculture programs and flexible urban infrastructure, it could significantly increase its contribution to global climate financing.

Pakistan’s climate crisis is the challenge of governance as it is environmental. The repeated cycle of destruction shows structural irregularities. Disaster management has led to a reaction rather than caution. The NDMA is focused on the post -destruction rather than preparation for destruction and destruction. Despite the growing data of the icy retreat, rain fluctuations and smog, policies remain politically viable rather than science. In order to reverse the course, Pakistan will have to prioritize adaptation and flexibility. This includes investment in defense of floods, strengthening early warning systems, increasing water storage, and adopting climate -related agriculture. It also needs to take advantage of international forums, including the UN framework convention on climate change, so as to protect climate funding not as a charity but as justice.

The magic of the latest rain that killed about 400 400 people and displaced thousands of people, this is not just a humanitarian crisis, a warning. Climate change is no longer a remote prediction. It is a home, living and infrastructure that eliminates an existing catastrophe. Every death in the KP valleys, every falling bridge in the Gilgit, every slotted reserves in Punjab is a reminder that Pakistan stands on the front of the end of the global climate. If the country continues to treat every monsoon as a isolated catastrophe instead of the challenge of systematic climate, this tool will only increase.

The pre -choice of Pakistan is tough: it can continue the reaction -related aid cycle or embrace the agenda of a change that connects climate adaptation with governance reform, international finance and sustainable development. The rain will return the next year. The question is whether Pakistan will still count its dead or have learned to be flexible with a new climate reality.

Dr. Ikramul Haq, author and lawyer of the Supreme Court, is an affiliated teacher at the University of Management Sciences.

Abdul Rauf Shakuri is a corporate lawyer based in the United States.