Karachi:
Weeks of storming monsoon rain have detached disastrous floods over Pakistan, killed more than 920 people, displaced almost 2 million, submerging large stretches of agricultural land and sweeping away home, schools and livestock.
The disaster could now trigger one of the country’s largest internal migrations since the devastating floods of 2010, aid agencies and local experts warn.
“Migration has already started in several areas, as unprecedented rain and floods have left nothing to millions of people,” Shaukat Ali Chadhar, president of the Federation of Pakistan Agricultural Chambers, told Anadolu.
Chadhar said that the ongoing boundaries have already affected about 10 million people dependent on agriculture across the country, mainly in northeast Punjab Province, the country’s food basket.
“A multi -formed combination of rain and floods has affected farmers in many ways and destroyed stored and standing crops, agricultural areas and livestock,” he explained, saying it could take up to 18 months before the soil can be grown again.
“This gloomy scenario has not left no choice for them, but migrating to the big cities to earn life’s stay,” Chadhar said, warning that as many as 1 million migrants could get started.
Climate disaster was composed
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Sociations (IFRC) warned last Friday that Pakistan is facing one of its worst monsoon seasons in recent memory.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), at least 922 people have been killed and 1,047 wounded since the end of June, while more than 10,000 homes have been partially or completely destroyed, mainly in Punjab and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
At the end of August, India – also beaten by heavy rain – opened the gates of large dams on rivers divided according to the Indus Waters Treaty, warning Pakistan that the release could swell downstream floods. The extra discharges pushed Punjab’s water level even higher. For the first time in Pakistan’s 78-year history, three Eastern Rivers-Sutlej, Jhelum and Chenab-at the same time at “unusual” high flood levels, according to local authorities.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, sudden floods of glacier added another layer of destruction, ripped through remote valleys and destroy home, water systems and power lines. These floods occur when rain or rising temperatures cause mountain lakes to blow up, releasing torrent of water and dirt with a little warning.
The UN says climate change accelerates the ice melt over the Himalayas and Hindu Kush intervals, creating more unstable lakes and increasing the risk of such disasters.
“Unpredictable and intense weather patterns, shrinking agriculture, erosion, unemployment and lingering dry spells have caused widespread migration in Pakistan in the last decade,” Hafiz Wasi Mohammad Khan told a member of the state Punjab Agriculture Research Board, to Anadolu. “We fear that this process would be further accelerated by the latest floods.”
He estimated that although temporary migration will be higher, about 25% of the displaced persons may never be able to return to their homes.
Earlier this year, the climate risk indexes Pakistan as the country most affected by climate change in 2022. Experts also point to human -driven vulnerabilities such as uncontrolled land and illegal constructions along natural drainage paths that the government has promised to tackle.
“Pakistan stands where it was in 2010 in terms of flooding handling,” Khan said. “I suppose we will discuss the same situation next year.”
‘Massive rehabilitation package’
In 2010, more than 2 million people were displaced by floods that flooded one fifth of the country. Of these, 70% settled permanently in large cities due to the destruction of their homes and agricultural areas, according to Pakistan’s climate change.
Khan warned that another wave of mass migration to already overwritten cities would not only add their strained infrastructure, but also fuel crime and elaborate on poverty.
“A huge challenge is ahead in terms of rehabilitation and food security. The affected families have lost everything – their homes, countries, livestock and stacked stocks,” he said, adding that farmers are urgent needing cash input to obtain seeds and other agricultural articles.
He noted that many communities, especially downstream, have learned from recurring floods over the past two decades. In some cases, they even consider them options, as floods can regenerate land and refill underground water levels.
Chadhar called for the creation of a “special agricultural fund” to help farmers, in addition to writing off their loans and bills that said the government cannot handle the challenge of rehabilitation alone.
Meanwhile, Farid Ungulkadir called Aiywar, IFRC leader of Delegation for Pakistan, the international community not to overlook the unfolded tragedy that is “quiet but teally” devastating society across the country.
“The crisis is far from over,” he told journalists on Friday. “The whole community remains under water, families have lost everything, and access to safe water and health care becomes more urgent during the day.”
However, Irfan Ali Kathia, Director -General of Punjab Disaster Management Authority, neglected the chances of a great migration against city centers.
