Days before the start of the monsoon season late last month Karachi Administrator Musafa Wahab assured the citizens that in the rainy season this time there will be no water accumulation on the roads as the cleaning of 41 major drains In the city had been almost completed. Less than four weeks later, a record-breaking rainfall submerged the entire Karachi, leaving main roads inundated and citizens virtually trapped in their homes as rainwater accumulated on roads. There were at least nine dead. While the PPP can be criticized for the claims made by Mr Wahab, it is preposterous to suggest, as Imran Khan has done, that former PTI Punjab CM Sardar Usman Buzdar could have stopped the flooding with his gimmickry.
The pattern of monsoon rains this year has been deeply affected by climate change as pointed out by Chief Meteorologist Dr Sardar Sarfraz also. It is not Karachi and Sindh alone that have faced the brunt of heavy rains. Monsoon rains which began on June 14 had by the first week of July claimed 77 lives of which 39 deaths were reported in Balochistan. Urban flooding had been reported in Quetta, Pasni and Turbat. The rainfall has exceeded earlier calculations. The rains across Pakistan are 87 percent more than the average downpour. In Balochistan, the rains are 274 percent more than the average rainfall, while Sindh’s are 261 percent. Climate change led earlier to rampaging glacial outburst floods (GlOFs) that swept away bridges in the Northern Areas and families had to be shifted to safer places. Earlier this month the death toll in torrential rains and flash-floods-related incidents rose to 43 in Gilgit-Baltistan.
No provincial government can alone cope with the challenges posed by climate change. The challenges can take the form of increased frequency of extreme climatic events, increased variability of monsoons, floods, drought in regions known for rains and rains in areas known for low precipitation, increased coastal erosion and sea water incursion. Instead of initiating a blame game, the political parties should discuss the issue by taking the issue to Parliament for debate and discussion leading to collaboration and sharing of needed resources.
