When it rains in Lahore or elsewhere (especially in big cities), TV reporters have a field day.
And photographers too.
With spiced-up lunch or dinner on their mind, they would always describe the weather as pleasant and that it made the day of the “citizens”.
Then we used to have the Ameen Hafeez moments on the TV screen not long ago. The former reporter of a very famous TV channel would stay in the open like a film hero picturizing a romantic song with a heroine in drizzling or raining hours. To be clear, I am never a fan of Ameen Hafeez-type reporting. Journalism is too serious a business to be left to reporters like Ameen Hafeez.
Let us be serious about weather reporting. It is about climate change. It is about unpredictable rain patterns. It is about the posterity. It is about economy and agriculture and seasonal diseases and so on.
Cities like Karachi, Quetta and Islamabad have recently been hit by a disastrous flood, due to excessive or above-average rains. The media shows submerged roads, and hundreds of vehicles and motorcycles wading through the knee-deep roads. What Quetta experienced is, according to the authorities, due to a ‘cloud burst’, resulting in a rainfall of 130mm. Last year, the same cloudburst hit Islamabad. Soon after the flood hit the city, pictures and videos started circulating on social media showing cars being swept away by the water. As the water cleared from the streets, people witnessed huge amounts of garbage and waste left behind as a result of the flood.
One of the major causes of the flood is reported to be unauthorised and illegal constructions and developments. According to reports, various housing societies in E-11 have tampered with the nullahs. There has been construction leading to a reduction in the size of the nullah or even alteration in its natural flow. Authorities have also reported that there has even been a construction of a road on a nullah.
However, illegal developments are not the only problem. Massive dumping of solid waste into the nullahs hinders the flow of water and consequently reduces the carrying capacity. As nullahs are designed to allow smooth passage to the rapid and heavy drainage of rainwater, all these issues restrict the water flow which leads to the rising of the water from the nullah, infiltrating the city with contaminated water filled with large amounts of waste.
Flooding is a rare occurrence in the planned urban city of Islamabad. Karachi, almost every year, has to face heavy floods. Two years ago, Karachi witnessed what is termed as the worst flooding in the history of the city. It received 345mm rainfall in a single day. To understand how bad the situation was, an underpass in the city was filled with water to the top.
Flooding in Quetta on Tuesday is not an isolated incident, as of yet many other areas of Pakistan have been affected by flooding as well. By the time of reporting this piece, the Balochistan government has confirmed 25 deaths in rain-related incidents.
Flash-floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have resulted in deaths of several people and damage to properties.
Various areas of Karachi are also being flooded every now and then since the start of monsoon season this year. City Administrator Murtaza Wahab was seen supervising the desilting and cleaning of nullahs a few weeks ago. This work should have been done months ago.
Flooding is a serious issue which causes numerous deaths and a lot of destruction of infrastructure in Pakistan, resulting in huge losses.
Pakistan should aim and work towards futuristic urban town planning with an efficient flood strategy. Furthermore, encroachments, along with unauthorised and unsupervised construction, should also be controlled so the government’s well-planned town planning is not tampered with.
