Karachi:
Torrential monsoon rains have triggered catastrophic floods across Pakistan, killing more than 920 people, moving nearly 2 million, overwhelming large agricultural land and sweeping houses, schools and cattle.
The disaster could now trigger one of the largest internal migrations in the country since the devastating floods of 2010, assistance agencies and local experts warn.
“Migration has already started in several fields because unprecedented rains and floods have left nothing for millions of people,” the president of the Pakistani Chambers of Agriculture told Anadolu.
Chadhar said that the current floods have already touched around 10 million people depending on agriculture across the country, mainly in the northeast of Punjab province, the country’s food basket.
“A combination with several rain and flooding several stoves affected farmers in many ways, destroying stored and permanent crops, agricultural land and livestock,” he said, saying that he could take up to 18 months for the land to be cultivable again.
“This dark scenario has not left the choice for them but to migrate to big cities to make a living,” said Chadhar, warning that up to 1 million migrants could take the plunge.
Aggravated climate disaster
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned last Friday that Pakistan is faced with one of its worst, recent memory seasons.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), at least 922 people have been killed and 1,047 injured since the end of June, while more than 10,000 houses were partially or completely destroyed, mainly in Punjab and in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
At the end of August, India – also beaten by heavy rains – opened the doors of large dams on rivers shared under the Industry Water Treaty, warning Pakistan that outings could swell downstream. Additional discharges have pushed even higher Punjab water levels. For the first time in 78 years of Pakistan history, three oriental rivers – the Sutlej, Jhelum and Chenab – are both in “exceptionally” high “flood levels, according to local authorities.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, the sudden floods of the glacial lake added another layer of devastation, tearing away the distant valleys and destroying houses, water systems and power lines. These floods occur when the rains or the increase in temperatures burst the mountain lakes, releasing water torrents and debris with little alert.
The UN says that climate change accelerates the glacial cast iron through the ranges of Kush of the Himalayas and the Hindu, creating more unstable lakes and increasing the risk of such disasters.
“The unpredictable and intense weather conditions, the narrowing of agriculture, sea erosion, unemployment and persistent drought periods have caused a widespread migration in Pakistan over the past decade,” the Hafiz Wasi Mohammad Khan, a member of the research board on Punjab, told Anadolu. “We fear that this process is still accelerated by the latest floods.”
He estimated that although the temporary migration is higher, around 25% of displaced people could never return home.
Earlier this year, the climate risk index ranked Pakistan as the country most affected by climate change in 2022. Experts also highlight man -oriented vulnerabilities such as uncontrolled land seizures and illegal constructions along the natural drainage paths, which the government has promised to address.
“Pakistan stands where it was in 2010 in terms of flood management,” said Khan. “I suspect that we will discuss the same situation next year.”
“Massive rehabilitation package”
In 2010, more than 2 million people were moved by floods that flooded a fifth in the country. Among these, 70% settled permanently in large cities due to the destruction of their agricultural homes and land, according to the Ministry of Climate Change in Pakistan.
Khan warned that another wave of mass migration to cities already in bands would not only add their tense infrastructure, but also to fuel crime and deepen poverty.
“A huge challenge is to come in terms of rehabilitation and food security. The affected families have lost everything-their homes, their land, their cattle and their accumulated stocks,” he said, adding that farmers urgently need cash dishes to get seeds and other agricultural supplies.
He noted that many communities, especially downstream, have learned recurring floods in the past two decades. In some cases, they even consider them as opportunities, because floods can regenerate land and reconstruct the levels of groundwater.
Chadhar called for the creation of a “special agricultural fund” to help farmers, in addition to raft their loans and their public service bills, saying that the government cannot take up the challenge of rehabilitation alone.
Meanwhile, Farid Abdulkadir Aiywar, head of the IFRC delegation for Pakistan, urged the international community not to neglect the tragedy that takes place which is devastating communities “discreetly relentlessly” across the country.
“The crisis is far from over,” he told journalists on Friday. “Whole communities remain underwater, families have lost everything and access to safe water and health care becomes more and more urgent day by day.”
Irfan Ali Kathia, Director General of Punjab Disaster Management Authority, however minimized the chances of a great migration to urban centers.
