Preparing for the worst

The Met office has forecast 20 percent more rains during the monsoons this year. They expect risk of flooding due to extra rains and melting of glaciers due to excessive heat. It is in preparedness that one succeeds. The government, though busy in monitoring and dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, must also beware of the looming disaster of floods. If timely action is not taken, I am afraid we may find ourselves struggling to deal with floods followed by water-borne diseases. The floods not only destroy crops, roads infrastructure, and houses, they also bring mass homelessness and disease. In cities, heavy rains lead to roads being flooded; the worst is the electrocutions due to electric exposed poles and wires.

Every year many precious lives are lost to electrocutions in Karachi during the monsoons. The recent rains in Karachi and Peshawar have exposed the crumbling infrastructure in these cities. This is only the beginning of what is yet to come. Therefore, I plead to the government to sit with all the provincial stakeholders to put in place a solid disaster management programme to deal with anticipated flooding to minimize loss of precious lives and property. We have seen too many people lost unnecessarily to poor planning or lack of it in a timely manner. It is time we changed that and started planning ahead instead of running around when disaster hits.

Raja Shafaatullah

Islamabad