Learning from floods and Monsoon preparation

July 3, 2026

Every year the rains come, and every year Pakistan seems to relearn the same painful lesson. Rivers overflow, homes are destroyed, and families lose everything they built over a lifetime. This year, there are signs that the government wants to break that cycle before it starts. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered the formation of an emergency response committee and asked officials to visit every province, along with Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan, to check how ready the country really is for the monsoon season. This is a welcome step, and it deserves support from every citizen who has watched floods destroy lives in recent years. Pakistan is one of the countries most affected by climate change, even though it contributes very little to the pollution causing it. Rain patterns have become harder to predict. Some years bring drought, while others bring floods that swallow entire villages. The prime minister was right to say that the federal government and the provinces must work together closely, because no single authority can handle a crisis of this scale alone.

The new emergency committee will be led by the planning minister and will meet every week to track how prepared the country is. This kind of regular check is important. Disasters are not stopped by one meeting or one announcement. They are stopped by steady, ongoing work that continues long after the cameras leave. The finance minister has also been asked to set up an emergency fund for monsoon related disasters, which means money will already be available when it is needed most, instead of being arranged in a panic after the damage is done. Another important instruction from the prime minister is the removal of encroachments blocking river paths and flood channels in vulnerable districts. This is often the real reason floods turn into disasters. When natural water paths are blocked by illegal construction, water has nowhere to go except into people’s homes. Clearing these paths before the rains arrive could save countless families from losing everything.

The National Disaster Management Authority has already warned of heavy rainfall expected in July, along with prolonged heatwaves before that. This warning should be taken seriously by everyone, not just government officials. Ordinary citizens, local administrations, and provincial governments all have a role to play in staying alert and ready. Preparedness never makes headlines the way disasters do. No one celebrates a flood that did not happen. But that quiet success is exactly what Pakistan needs this year. The government has taken the first step by planning ahead instead of reacting late. Now it must follow through with real action on the ground, because promises alone will not hold back a flood.