On Thursday, July 21st, the death toll in Pakistan caused by monsoons reached 282, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.
Every summer, the monsoon season desolates Pakistan as rain and floods damage houses, property, and cities. Roads are flooded with water, causing people to live without electricity for up to several days. From 1998 to 2018, disasters such as these floods have caused Pakistan to accumulate $4 billion in damages and lose 10,000 people.
Pakistan’s minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, believes that climate change is what has caused the increasing amounts of rain during monsoon season as she observes an 87 percent increase in rainfall this year compared to previous years, even higher than in 2020 when it reached record amounts.
Every flood season in Pakistan results in citizens criticizing the government for lack of preparation and responsibility for the damages. Although a financial package was proposed in 2020 following a deadly monsoon season to help the infrastructure in the city of Karachi, nothing has improved during these last two years.
Many have voiced their frustrations with the government, such as Amber Danish, a resident in Karachi, stating that “[t]here is no accountability” for Pakistan’s government. Karachi’s traders also voiced their frustrations as flooding causes them massive losses each year. Hakken Shah, leader of the traders, blamed the losses on the government’s irresponsibility and that “the government should compensate the traders, who are already suffering from inflation.”
During this year’s flooding, Wasim Akhtar, former Karachi mayor, said that the provincial government’s lack of action to prepare for floods caused all the damage. However, Mr. Shah, the chief minister, said the cause behind the damages is solely due to the increased rain, as he said in a news conference that “[t]he provincial government managed the situation in the best way it could.”
The lack of cooperation between each level of government is due to each level being controlled by a different political party. Because each party wants to control the resources, the government cannot provide even the most basic services to citizens. For Karachi, this is worsened as the provincial government caters more to the rural voters as they make up the majority in the polls.
This leaves residents to protect themselves from the monsoon rains as it worsens each year, damaging the cities and endangering resident’s lives.
Link to Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/world/asia/pakistan-monsoon-floods.html
Every summer, the monsoon season desolates Pakistan as rain and floods damage houses, property, and cities. Roads are flooded with water, causing people to live without electricity for up to several days. From 1998 to 2018, disasters such as these floods have caused Pakistan to accumulate $4 billion in damages and lose 10,000 people.
Pakistan’s minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, believes that climate change is what has caused the increasing amounts of rain during monsoon season as she observes an 87 percent increase in rainfall this year compared to previous years, even higher than in 2020 when it reached record amounts.
Every flood season in Pakistan results in citizens criticizing the government for lack of preparation and responsibility for the damages. Although a financial package was proposed in 2020 following a deadly monsoon season to help the infrastructure in the city of Karachi, nothing has improved during these last two years.
Many have voiced their frustrations with the government, such as Amber Danish, a resident in Karachi, stating that “[t]here is no accountability” for Pakistan’s government. Karachi’s traders also voiced their frustrations as flooding causes them massive losses each year. Hakken Shah, leader of the traders, blamed the losses on the government’s irresponsibility and that “the government should compensate the traders, who are already suffering from inflation.”
During this year’s flooding, Wasim Akhtar, former Karachi mayor, said that the provincial government’s lack of action to prepare for floods caused all the damage. However, Mr. Shah, the chief minister, said the cause behind the damages is solely due to the increased rain, as he said in a news conference that “[t]he provincial government managed the situation in the best way it could.”
The lack of cooperation between each level of government is due to each level being controlled by a different political party. Because each party wants to control the resources, the government cannot provide even the most basic services to citizens. For Karachi, this is worsened as the provincial government caters more to the rural voters as they make up the majority in the polls.
This leaves residents to protect themselves from the monsoon rains as it worsens each year, damaging the cities and endangering resident’s lives.
Link to Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/world/asia/pakistan-monsoon-floods.html