Floods in Pakistan 2022
Pakistan is facing one of the worst flooding situations in
its history. The Government estimates around 33 million of the population
across the country have been affected by the rains, floods and impacts due to
major landslides, Reports estimated
deaths over 1,100 people and destroying infrastructure, homes,
agricultural land and thousands of livestock all over Pakistan.
Floods in Pakistan have killed over 1,191 people, including 399 children. The floods were caused by heavier than usual monsoon rains and melting glaciers caused by severe heat wave, all of which are linked to climate changes in Pakistan during this year. It is the world's deadliest flood since the 2017 South Asian floods and described as the worst in the country's history. On 25 August, Pakistan declared a state of emergency because of the flooding.
By 29
August, Pakistan's minister of climate change said around 'one-third' of the
country was underwater, affecting 33 million people. The Government of
Pakistan has estimated the loss of US$10 billion so far from flooding’s across
the country. By 2 September, the death toll passed 1,200.
Picture reflects the suffering position of Pakistan.
Image link: https://sepoy.net/flood-disaster-in-pakistan-like-an-ocean-on-the-mainland/
The European Space Agency confirmed via satellite pictures more than a third of Pakistan is currently submerged.
In August 2022, six military officers were killed in a
helicopter crash during a flood relief operation. Flash flooding has also
occurred in nearby bordering areas of India and Afghanistan.
The minister of climate change of Pakistan, Sherry Rahman, said that the provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan had received more rainfall than the August average, with 784% and 500% more, respectively. Higher than average monsoon rains were also recorded in India and Bangladesh at the same time.
The Indian Ocean is one of the fastest warming oceans in the world,
warming by an average of 1 °C (34 °F) (while worldwide temperatures are now at
1.2 °C (34.2 °F) above pre-industrial temperatures, oceans in general are at
around 0.7 °C (33.3 °F)).The rise in sea surface temperatures is believed to
increase monsoon rainfall. In addition, southern Pakistan experienced
back-to-back heat waves in May and June, which were record setting and
themselves made more likely by climate change. These created a strong thermal
low that brought heavier rains than usual. The heat waves also triggered glacial
flooding in Gilgit Baltistan which has highly affected my homeland.
According to the National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA), over four million people in 116 out of 160
districts across the country have been impacted, and half of them are living in
relief camps. A majority of flood victims need shelter, food and other essential
items such as tents, utensils, mats and beds. Over 670,000 houses have been
completely or partially destroyed. Over three thousand kilometers of roads and
145 bridges have been damaged.
Devastating situations in Pakistan had
also been a major gig to create high inflation rates. Lesser supply of good due
to these worst days have impacted to fluctuate prices to high level. I would
say this gradually will affect the economy of country in a bad way.
The losses and damages due to the floods caused by climate change need to be met from national and international resources, and the migration of displaced people should be taken seriously. This is a full-fledged humanitarian crisis compounded by the already existing crises such as Covid19, food and fuel inflation and unemployment. It is time to act as a nation, leaving political differences aside. Both the federal and provincial governments cannot respond to this catastrophe despite mobilizing all resources on their own; philanthropists, NGOs, INGOs, development partners and political parties, leaving their vested political interests aside, should join hands to steer the nation out of this grave humanitarian crisis.
Effects of Floods on Economy
Household income
The flood put a negative effect on the income level. Mostly the
flood victims already have low income. When flood hitter then their source of
income lost. As a result of 2010 flood the households whose livelihoods were
most affected have the lowest levels of income. According to a survey, those
who were affected income reduced by 75 percent out of which 45 % live below the
national poverty line. According to a survey, farmers and livestock owners were
not interest the burden of the flood impact. More than 70% of farmers lost more
than 50 percent of their expected income, followed by daily wage laborers
around 60 percent lost more than 50% of their expected income. Government or
private service employees were the least affected, of which almost 64 percent
reported no losses. They are also the most food secure. After the floods
households spent more than 65% of their expenditures on food. By this their
essential expenditure on education, clothing and housing are reduced.
Effects on Home and Infrastructure
In nearly every section of Pakistan, considerable damage from
the floods was prevailing. In Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan and Sindh
provinces the most significant home damage was reported along the Swat and
Indus rivers and their respective valleys. 10,860 separate villages were
completely inundated by floodwaters after points along the Indus and Swat
rivers swelled to more than 10 to 20 times their normal heights. During monsoon
season, the rivers sometimes spread up to one kilometer in width. The Indus
River was measured at 32 kilometers though several spots and it were 35 times
wider than normal. The water heights of over 5.5 meters forced residents to run
away to their roofs in hopes to be rescued.
Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
reported that at least 1.24 million homes were damaged or destroyed.
International support groups have emanated that at least six million people
were homeless, with 17.6 million being affected. According to the United
Nations, the floods had also smashed over 5,674 schools and 200 hospitals and
health facilities. In the high number of damaged domiciles and structures,
countryside and location of population played a major role. Much of Pakistan is
surrounded within a mountainous topography. as the, significant amounts
of water ran downhill after heavy rains fall and slashed through populated
hillsides before reaching rivers and tributaries. Property damage estimated from
the government was PKR187 billion.
Flooding in Punjab Province (Source: United Nations)
The flooding also damaged the transportation and infrastructure tremendously. The provincial information-minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported that the transportation infrastructure was already severely impacted by ongoing civil disorder and that the floods had only exacerbated the circumstances. Thousands of roads were either flooded or had been washed away. It was impossible to travel many affected towns and villages throughout the country. Hundreds of bridges were smashed including one along the Karakoram Highway that connects Pakistan with China. In the town of Sukkur in Sindh Province, hundreds of meters of water were prevalent on both sides of the Indus National Highway.
The floods also severely affected the electrical and
telecommunications infrastructures of Pakistan. It damaged 10,000 transformers,
transmission lines, base transceiver stations, base station controllers,
feeders and power stations. The Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO)
reported that millions of residents lost electricity and millions more had lost
access to clean drinking water. The Pakistani government estimated total
sustained infrastructure damage losses including roads, bridges, electricity
and telecommunications at over PKR13869 billion
Effects on Agriculture Sector
Pakistani government officials reported that the floods cause
disastrous damage to the agricultural infrastructure. According to the reports
of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, floodwaters
inundated approximately 6.9 million hectares of cropland across Pakistan’s most
productive grounds in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces. This is
nearly 16 % of all cultivable land in Pakistan. The country’s primary
crops are cotton, sugarcane, rice, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, pulses and
animal fodder. Farming is the country’s most chief source of food and also a
primary economic bastion.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Food reported that economic losses due to
crop damage of rice was PKR21.3 billion, of sugarcane was PKR52 billion to over
80,000 hectares, PKR22.4 billion of maize, PKR17.3 billion of wheat stock after
damaging over 667,000 tones and PKR45 billion to fruits, fodder and
vegetables. Farmers distinguished that seed for next year’s crop season was
washed away. The FAO supposed that if September wheat planting is missed
because of water-logging then its impact could last for up to two years.
Rice and maize growing areas were not expected to be able to harvest their
first crop until autumn of next year.
Particularly The textile industry was affected. Over two million
bales of cotton which is 20 % of the crop were washed away over 280,000
hectares uphill August 30th. The economic damages from the lost cotton was
anticipated at PKR80 billion. 60% of the country’s exports is accounted by
Pakistan’s textile industry. More than 200,000 livestock were died while the
rest of the remaining livestock were facing a shortage of feed and fodder
critical for survival. In Punjab Province alone, losses from the livestock
casualties were PKR9.2 billion. There was a danger that 427,000 additional
animals may be dying as a result of malnourishment and disease.
23% of Pakistan’s economy is dependent on agriculture and at
least 44 percent of the work force is employed in agriculture-related work.
There was fairly negative impact on the projected 2010 GDP growth due to drop
in the agricultural production. According to an estimate from the
Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock distinguished that floods may have
damaged crops valued at up to PKR433 billion .
Prevention of Flood
Structural measures for flood control
Structural measures such as banks can give defense against many
types of flooding. However Flood Control alone often does not provide a strong
and long-run result for addressing flood risk. Such types of efforts at flood
control in both urban and rural situation have produced limited solutions
sometimes even worsen flooding problems, when applied in isolation from overall
policy in the floodplains. However, such structures may be useful if they are
used in combination with other non-structural measures which are planned and
implemented with the participation of local people.
In most parts of the world, early forecasting and Flood warning
can produce information with longer lead times. They are useful for emergency
planning and defining immediate actions in responding to a flood. Mostly early
warning is needed to poor people. But many of them do not understand weather
forecasting or the language of early warning. Early warning has little
significance if people do not have the ability to retort to warnings in terms
of taking decisions on protective actions and evacuation. Needs for warning
also vary by livelihood group.
Community preparedness against flood
Effective ways of strengthening preparedness at the community
level are creating useful groups, developing managerial capacities and enabling
them to associate with the national disaster management mechanisms. In Asia,
teaching lifesaving skills, Small-scale mitigation, contingency planning and
even upgrading service provision are some key measures undertaken by
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments. In many cases such good
work by agencies on an extemporized basis is found to be untenable and not
often scaled up. Longer-term success needs strong commitment with the
community. Continuity of funding support for many smaller NGOs is a
critical limiting factor in maintaining their disaster preparedness (DP) work.
Some funding is globally available for disaster reduction but little is left to
support tangible action, beyond training and planning. Therefore the best way
is to enable the communities to organize themselves and connect them with the
national disaster response system.
Strengthening coping mechanisms
To cope with flooding, susceptible people independently and
cooperatively develop their own means, resources and strategies. However all of
these mechanisms have financial, social and opportunity costs. A review of a
preparedness program in Pakistan confirm that susceptible people have little or
no surplus income to invest in the measures that can protect them from flooding
although they know what to do. Social capital such as support from immediate
family members, reciprocal support among neighbors and wider association
networks is a vital safety net for people in coping with persistent flooding.
The devastation of assets which acts as a safeguard can make people more
susceptible to the next flood. Programs which support communities and their
local organizations directly have proved to work best for immediate
strengthening of coping and hardiness capacities.
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