Gigantic floods in Pakistan. More than one million evacuated

Floods caused by the monsoon in Pakistan are not unusual, but this year the situation is the most severe in four decades. Since June, 800 people have already died and more than a million residents have been forced to leave their homes. Why has this year’s monsoon had such catastrophic consequences and what is the current situation in the country?

Cities, fields and places of worship under water

The most dramatic situation is in Punjab, where – according to Reuters – 1,400 towns and villages have already been flooded. Just this week, more than 200,000 people were evacuated there. In Sialkot, the highest rainfall in 49 years was recorded. The water is destroying not only towns and villages but also farmland, which threatens to further worsen the economic situation of the residents.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the BBC that the government will work closely with local authorities, focusing on protecting the most densely populated urban areas. However – as officials emphasize – persuading people to leave their homes is difficult. In many places, even half of the residents refuse evacuation, risking their lives to protect their modest belongings.

The disaster has also affected places of worship. Among those damaged are the famous Sikh temple Dera Bana Nanak Sahib and the pilgrimage route leading to the Hindu temple Vaishno Devi in the Jammu region.

Forecasts bring little optimism

Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issues almost daily warnings of high water levels in rivers. This week, particular danger comes from the Indus, Chenab and Sutlej. Farmers have been advised to move cattle out of flood-prone areas and strictly follow the authorities’ instructions.

The NDMA also warns of another wave of heavy rains and storms brought by the monsoon from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. These events may persist – with only short breaks – at least until September 2. Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and the Islamabad area are especially at risk.

New threat from India

According to Al Jazeera, another problem has been the overflowing Indian rivers. After water releases from reservoirs there, 14,000 residents of Kasur and as many as 89,000 people from Bahawalnagar were evacuated.

The Indian authorities announced the releases on Tuesday, and Pakistan immediately began evacuations. It was the first form of contact between the two conflicted countries since May – previously relations had been suspended after an exchange of airstrikes.

Why floods in Pakistan have so many victims?

Monsoon floods are a recurring phenomenon in Pakistan, yet they still claim hundreds of lives every year. “There is awareness of the danger, but money doesn’t follow,” commented Azadeh Moshiri, the BBC’s Pakistan correspondent. There is a lack of funds for infrastructure, warning systems, and tools that would allow better prediction of extreme weather events.

This year’s budget cuts have made the problem even worse – funding for the Ministry of Climate Change was reduced while defense spending increased. The decision was criticized by Senator Sherry Rehman, former climate minister: “If we don’t invest in disaster resilience ourselves, why should others support us?”

Dr. Yasmeen Lari, an expert in climate-resilient architecture, emphasizes that non-compliance with the law is also a serious problem. Although regulations prohibit building houses closer than 61 meters from rivers, in practice no one enforces them. Implementing the regulations would require mass relocations, but there is neither funding nor social consent for that.

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main photo: Abdul Majeed Goraya / IRIN / Flickr