Flash Floods

People wade through floodwater as they are evacuated from the area after heavy rain in Mardan.

Torrential rains leading to flash floods have devastated large areas of Mardan, Swabi and Peshawar districts. District administrations have declared emergencies and called for help in a crisis that has already killed over a dozen people and destroyed hundreds of houses. The damage is likely to mount since extensive flooding leads to waterborne and hygiene-related illnesses while posing a continued risk to still-standing structures.

To compound their problems, although the residents of these areas were spared the military operation against the Taliban in Malakand, they have not been able to escape the ripple effect of the hostilities. The affected districts hosted thousands of IDPs from other areas. Many IDPs have returned to their native areas, but there are still several families waiting to do so.

The village Shahbaz Garhi, one of the most badly affected by the flooding in Mardan district, was in fact one of the transport points for the IDPs. The provincial and federal governments must, therefore, double their efforts and expedite the repatriation of the IDPs. Everything possible must be done, meanwhile, to aid all affected citizens in terms of shelter, food, potable water and medical aid.

The areas devastated by the floods must be drained and cleaned as soon as possible, and a contingency plan formulated in case of further rain. In the long-term, however, the state must develop a strategy for minimising the risk of flooding and its consequent effects. Mardan and Peshawar districts have always been prone to flash floods but few precautionary measures have been taken.

One possible solution, for example, could be the construction of small reservoirs that could contain the seasonal deluge while also countering the imminent water-stress predicted for Pakistan. To be sure, natural calamities cannot be prevented; but planning and some blue-sky thinking can reduce the damage.