Thirteen more people lost their lives due to rain-related incidents on Tuesday taking the total country-wide death toll to 234 due to monsoon rains and flooding.
There are no immediate prospects of any meaningful improvement in the situation and instead the authorities concerned have warned of an even deadlier threat looming in the country’s glaciated north in the form of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), flash floods and landslides. The warning issued by Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has also called on disaster management authorities to activate emergency response plans in at-risk districts.
Torrential rains have displaced families, destroyed hundreds of homes and cut off entire communities across all provinces. Punjab remains worst affected, with 135 reported fatalities and more than 470 injuries. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported 46 deaths, followed by Sindh with 22 and Balochistan with 16. Isolated casualties have also been reported in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad. Over 800 houses have been partially damaged or completely destroyed. Urban flooding remains a threat in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Gujranwala and other major cities. Landslides are likely in Murree, Galliyat, Chitral and Hunza, with several high-risk points identified along key highways and glacial zones. There are apprehensions that a large-scale climate disaster is in the making as water flows are increasing in rivers due to excessive rains and glacial melting. This necessitates a proactive approach on the part of the local administration, provincial governments and relevant departments to not only sensitize the vulnerable communities to take precautionary measures but also prepare plans for evacuation and relocation of people. As hundreds of villages have submerged in water and more are likely to be inundated, there are clear risks to agriculture besides the possibility of spread of diseases. As rain-related statistics highlight the fact that children were the most vulnerable victims, there is a need on the part of the families to keep a strict vigil on activities of their children to ensure their safety. Of course, one cannot avoid natural calamities but dangers and risks can surely be minimized if there is proper vigilance on the part of the governance structure at different tiers and people take necessary care.
