Over 300 killed, thousands stranded: Why Pakistan is facing severe floods

Floods in Pakistan have killed more than 300 people and left hundreds injured and thousands homeless. The government has issued warning of heavier rainfall in 14 cities.

Since June 14, the country has been receiving heavy rainfall. Though Pakistan experiences heavy rainfall from July to September, experts say that the rains have increased in frequency and intensity.

The worst impact of the floods is seen in country’s largest city Karachi, capital of Sindh. The city which is home to around 16 million people, has water clogged in lanes and vehicles submerged in water. Since Saturday (July 23), 15 people have died in Karachi, The Guardian reported.

Residents suffer losses: Karachi has luxury hotels, malls, upmarket gated colonies. But according to the World Bank, around 50% of the residents are forced to live in informal settlements. Here, the traders have suffered heavy losses, which runs in billions. The water has destroyed commercial electronic equipment and garments in the markets.

Among other provinces, Balochistan in the south-west region of Pakistan has also received heavy rainfall. At least 87 people have died in the province due to heavy rainfall so far. Also, eight dams have breached their water level and nine bridges have collapsed, according to a report by Provincial Disaster Management Authority. 

Why Pakistan faces extreme weather events: Pakistan ranks fifth among the countries vulnerable to climate change, according to a report by Global Climate Risk Index released in 2019. 

The reason why Pakistan ranks fifth is mainly due to its geographical location. On top of that, the government of Pakistan has been unable to build infrastructure for adverse weather events.

A report by the think-tank Germanwatch says that Pakistan lost 9,989 lives, suffered economic losses worth USD 3.8 billion and also saw 152 extreme weather events from 1999 to 2018.

Climate is playing its part: Climate activist in Pakistan, Afia Salam, said that Karachi facing floods is a sign of unpredictable weather in Pakistan, and of course, the climate is playing its part here. “We have heavier rainfalls, we have rain falling within the a very short period of time which used to be spread over, so these changing patterns are there,” Afia said. On top of that, she said that the mismanagement by the government adds more to it.

What is happening currently?  The meteorological departments in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh acknowledge the presence of La Nina factor which they think is a reason of sudden unexpected rainfall in Pakistan and droughts in certain parts of India.

What is La Nina factor? It is a global phenomenon that causes the surface ocean waters along the tropical west coast of South America to cool don. It causes low pressure over the western pacific which causes high rainfall.

According to Raghu Murtugudde, professor at the department of atmospheric and oceanic science at the University of Maryland, US, the southwesterly winds which cross the Arabia sea, have shifted northwards and are causing heavy downpour across Gujarat and Pakistan.