Heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslide in Peshawar and northwestern mountainous region of Gilgit Baltistan have killed more than 36 people over last 24 hours. The last rain spell which ended couple of weeks back also resulted in more than one hundred deaths in various parts of Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. Such heavy death toll as a result of rain-related incidents has become a common occurrence in the country. Be it Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa or any other part of the country the un-preparedness of the authorities is a major factor in the high number of deaths.
Institutes like National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) should taken measures in anticipation of severe weather conditions instead of taking just reactionary measures once the damage has been done. A particularly high cause of deaths during rains is due to electric shock, which is something that can be easily controlled if the government takes some basic measures. Moreover, serious consideration is needed on the causes of abnormal weather patterns in the country. It’s a bitter fact that global warming has wreaked havoc throughout the world not just in Pakistan. But in other countries measures are being taken to lessen damage. However when it comes to Pakistan, the government seems oblivious of the serious pose climate change poses. It must be mentioned here that according to environmental experts Pakistan is one of the countries that is going to be the hardest hit due to global warming and climate change. The repeated high death toll in the last two rain spells should be enough to gain the attention of the relevant institutes.
A long-term plan is needed to counter the threat posed by climate change.
