On July 9, I attended an event on urban floods and their implications for climate resilience in Islamabad. Major takeaways from the event entailed the grim situation of climate change susceptibility and its impact on urban flooding. Islamabad is in jeopardy as the forecasts entail that a heavy monsoon is incoming and that it has already been affected by calamitous urban flooding, exacerbated by rapid and unplanned urbanization. Due to rapid unregulated urban sprawl, deforestation and illegal encroachments, green spaces are vanishing and climate-change vulnerability is increasing.
The capital can now be called ‘heat island’. Governments and donors must utilize resources for data-collection and implementation. Better technology must be utilized to simulate floods and avoid them in real-time, particularly in flooding hotspots. Early warning mechanisms will also be a game-changer in preventing losses.
Soha Nisar
Islamabad