Press Release: Veritas Press C.I.C.
Author: Kamran Faqir
Article Date Published: 04 Aug 2025 at 19:21 GMT
Category: South Asia | Pakistan | Pakistan’s Monsoon
Source(s): Veritas Press C.I.C. | Multi News Agencies
ISLAMABAD – At least 299 people, including 140 children, have died in Pakistan since the onset of the monsoon season on June 26, as flash floods and landslides wreak havoc across the country. But beyond the headlines of torrential rains lies a deeper, more uncomfortable truth: the disaster is not just meteorological, it is institutional.
With 715 others injured, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), experts warn that Pakistan’s annual monsoon tragedies are no longer “natural disasters” but the result of chronic infrastructural neglect, weak early warning systems, and a political failure to act on climate threats.
“These Are Not Accidents, These Are Crimes Of Inaction”
“The floods are not just the result of heavy rainfall; they are the result of years of failed governance and unimplemented disaster mitigation plans,” said Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, a climate policy analyst and former advisor to the Ministry of Climate Change.
Despite repeated warnings from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), local governments were ill-equipped when rains battered Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Gilgit-Baltistan, and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Punjab alone accounted for nearly half of the 299 fatalities, followed closely by KP.
“We issued timely alerts,” said Dr. Sardar Sarfaraz, PMD’s Chief Meteorologist, “but in many areas, local administrations simply didn’t act. Alerts are meaningless without action plans and coordination.”
Flash Floods Or Systemic Collapse?
Between June 26 and August 4, the NDMA reported:
- 299 deaths, including 140 children, 57 women, and 102 men.
- 715 injuries: 239 children, 204 women, 272 men.
- 1,676 homes damaged, of which 562 were completely destroyed.
- 428 livestock lost and 2,880 people evacuated through 223 rescue missions.
- 13,466 relief items distributed, ranging from tents and food packs to de-watering pumps and life jackets.
But on the ground, survivors say relief was delayed, fragmented, and poorly coordinated.
“In many places, communities had to save themselves,” said Nausheen Fatima, a Karachi-based disaster response volunteer. “The state’s response only arrives when the cameras do.”
Warnings Ignored, Infrastructure Crumbling:
Disaster management officials continue to rely on outdated flood mapping, fragmented institutional coordination, and delayed data sharing between NDMA, provincial disaster authorities (PDMAs), and district-level administrations (DDMAs).
“Pakistan has a dozen disaster-related agencies that don’t talk to each other when it matters,” said Dr. Adil Najam, Dean at Boston University’s Pardee School of Global Studies. “Early warning means nothing if no one listens, or if communities can’t evacuate.”
In 2015, Pakistan introduced the National Flood Protection Plan IV, intended to be implemented by 2025. Ten years later, it remains largely dormant. Budget allocations were slashed repeatedly under IMF austerity measures.
The Climate Time Bomb Is Ticking Faster:
This year’s floods come on the heels of record-breaking glacial melt, scorching June heatwaves, and a warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) listing Pakistan among the most vulnerable nations.
“Every monsoon season is now amplified by climate change,” said Dr. Fahad Saeed, climate scientist with Climate Analytics. “More moisture in the atmosphere, higher surface temperatures, and retreating glaciers make South Asia a cauldron of climate volatility.”
UNICEF warned that children are disproportionately at risk from flood-borne diseases, loss of schooling, displacement, and trauma. With 140 children dead and 239 injured, it called the 2025 monsoon “a silent emergency for Pakistan’s youngest.”
Finance, But Not In Loans:
During his visit to Gilgit-Baltistan this weekend, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emphasised the need for climate-resilient infrastructure and urged international partners to support adaptation projects.
However, activists say financing climate resilience through debt is unacceptable.
“Pakistan is being forced to borrow to survive disasters it didn’t cause,” said Farzana Bari, a rights activist. “Climate justice means reparations, not loans.”
Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s former climate minister, said bluntly: “The country is becoming ground zero for the climate polycrisis, yet the world only reacts with condolence, not commitment.”
A Crisis Of Governance As Much As Climate:
Investigative reports reveal that many flood-prone areas lack basic embankments, early warning sirens, or evacuation plans. In some cases, municipal authorities had no boats or rescue gear on hand despite repeated floods in the same locations over the past decade.
“There is no learning curve,” said Zahid Hussain, a journalist who covered the 2022 floods. “Each year, people die in the same towns, in the same rivers, and yet the bureaucracy stays stuck in paperwork and procurement delays.”
The Next Wave Approaches:
The PMD has forecast another heavy spell of monsoon rains between August 4 and 7, particularly in Punjab, KP, and Azad Kashmir, with the NDMA warning of possible flooding along the Chenab and Jhelum Rivers.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, search efforts for flood-missing persons have ended after several weeks. “The bodies are gone. The grief remains,” said one local official.
In Summary: From Disaster Response To Disaster Prevention.
Pakistan is not facing a monsoon crisis. It is facing a crisis of political will, institutional dysfunction, and climate injustice.
As experts warn of rising risks from glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), urban sprawl in floodplains, and collapsing drainage infrastructure, the question is no longer whether the next monsoon will bring disaster, but whether Pakistan’s system will survive it.
If Pakistan is indeed ground zero for the global climate crisis, then it is also the test case for whether the world can respond with justice, not just sympathy.
Leave a Reply