It is welcome to note that the Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab has very diligently imposed rain emergency in the mega polis, after the forecast of heavy showers in the city by the Met office. He has directed all relevant departments of KMC to remain open round the clock to deal with any emergent situation due to rains.

On the other hand, Murtaza Wahab also inspected the underpasses of different areas to review the condition of the underpasses before the rains to make sure that water does not accumulate in these places. This is the right approach by the Mayor Karachi as rains have started playing havoc across the country and Karachi can also face difficult times due to the impending danger of heavy rains.

The onset of the recent monsoon in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has come in the form of urban flooding. According to reports, eight people were killed and 6 injured in the accidents that took place in Lahore on Wednesday due to the stormy rain and the flood situation has worsened the urban situation.

The power transmission system was affected due to falling trees and broken wires, during which three deaths occurred due to electrocution and roof collapse. According to reports, 295 mm of rain was recorded in the city, water entered the houses in the sloping areas, from which it is not difficult to assess the condition of the poor settlements. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, three people have been reported killed in accidents caused by torrential rains.

It may be recalled here that the Federal Minister of Climate Change Ms. Sherry Rehman had warned the citizens and authorities of possible floods due to the rains after the onset of current monsoon. Despite this, seven people including an eleven-year-old child were killed in Lahore. A foreign media has even predicted that there is a risk of such rains in other cities as well.

Lahore is said to be model city. What if there are such rains in other cities? The answer is other cities also experience the same situation. Last month, in some districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 28 people were killed and 145 injured due to the deadly storm. The situation was so dire that Emergency was imposed in Bannu, Kirk, Lucky Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan hospitals while Pakistan Army teams were engaged in relief work in the affected areas. There were reports that 9 people died due to strong wind and heavy rain from areas adjacent to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Punjab.  Although there was an advance warning of strong winds and rain by the Meteorological Department, the intensity of the storm proved to be more than expected.  In view of the damage caused by heavy rains and lightning strikes in most areas of the country, it seems necessary that where the relevant local and provincial institutions are fully diligent, the general public should also observe the requirements of caution.

Stay away from damaged buildings, power poles, standing water ponds and flood water rails to avoid accidents.  Similarly, Punjab also witnessed same destruction last month when 15 people were killed in stormy rain and lightning across Punjab.  In Balochistan, many cities including Quetta and Ziarat have received reports of heavy rain with thunder. After rain in Khuzdar, rivers flooded, railway tracks in Panchpai area were submerged. Alert has been issued. Floods occur in these dry rivers only when water is released by India when the latter have accessive water in its rivers. India does this water almost every year, but we have not yet been able to benefit from this water. Rather this water released by Indian every year, becomes a source of destruction for Pakistan. If we build big lakes on these rivers, we can use its water all year round. We can also divert the rainwater of our country to these lakes. Plans for such  lakes have been in the files for years. One does not know why it could not be implemented in any government. Alas, we have no value for human life. Only in the earthquake of 2008, more than 80 thousand people died. Earthquake is not responsible for this. There are those authorities that do not check when building houses whether the building will be able to withstand earthquake shocks or not. In America and Europe, no such house can be built which collapses when an earthquake occurs. The city of Tokyo in Japan is the epicenter of earthquakes, but no building has ever collapsed there.  Due to increasing incident of loss of lives and properties in natural catastrophies, our governments should also pay special attention to climate change effects.

Meanwhile, the Govt has directed to speed up the measures to move the citizens to safe places and save the livestock in emergency situations across the country.  According to geologists, population pressure, old and dilapidated drainage systems and non-absorption of rainwater into the ground increase the chances of urban flooding. This situation is faced in most of the big cities of the country including Karachi and Lahore, where the greenery is gradually decreasing due to the cutting of trees. Most of the new housing societies in the plains are also not flood-proof due to weak sewage systems. In recent years, the drainage system has been affected due to the accumulation of garbage in the form of shopping bags and encroachments on the drains. The Meteorological Department has warned of heavy rains and possible floods in the country this year as well. There is also a warning of unusually high river levels. Vigilance of the relevant departments and institutions in this regard and making necessary arrangements can greatly reduce the loss of life and property. Developed countries are largely capable of dealing with such situations thanks to modern technology that minimizes the loss of human lives, but the ground realities of the homeland are completely different.   In most of the cities of the country, it rains in the months of July and August. Therefore, more attention needs to be paid to special arrangements in view of the mentioned rains.

By keeping rivers and waterways clean, chances of unexpected hazards can be reduced. Therefore, in this chapter, where the work has not been completed, the speed of work should be increased, while in the cities, measures to remove the vehicles stuck in water and protect against electric current in the affected areas are necessary. In recent years due to climate change effects, the patterns of rains is also behaving wildly in urban centres and we have seen a number of cloudbursts- in Karachi in recent years and also in other parts of country- which resulted in extreme urban flooding in the federal capital and in the provincial capitals. So nothing can be taken for granted. Not only Karachi, in other urban centre of the province, the danger of urban flooding does exists and precautionary steps must be taken to avert a bigger loss. The last year’s monsoon spell was unprecedented in nature as the relentless rains wreaked havoc with both lives of citizens and the civic infrastructure and hence this time extra steps are needed to stop the impending danger.

Published in The Daily National Courier, July, 08 2023

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