Senate panel slams outdated systems, poor planning for monsoon losses
ISLAMABAD: Senator Sherry Rehman on Wednesday warned that Pakistan’s recent monsoon disasters are “not a one-off tragedy” and blamed unregulated construction, outdated early warning systems, and a lack of critical data from ministries for worsening the climate fallout.
Chairing a Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change meeting in Islamabad, Senator Rehman highlighted Pakistan’s climate crisis, with devastating floods and depleting groundwater exacerbated by poor planning and outdated technology.
“This is not a one-off tragedy — this is climate change in motion, and Pakistan is ranked number one in climate vulnerability,” Senator Rehman said.
She noted that from June 26 to July 22, 242 people were killed and 598 were injured in weather-related incidents. “In just the past 24 hours, 21 people have died and six were injured,” she said.
Recent catastrophes are ‘climate change in motion’, warns Sherry Rehman
Ms Rehman condemned unplanned construction in natural waterways, which she said led to preventable deaths and destruction of infrastructure in areas like Saidpur Village and DHA Rawalpindi.
“We cannot call this a natural disaster anymore,” she said.
“That absolves us of responsibility. These are human-induced disasters fueled by poor planning and inaction in the face of climate change.” The committee highlighted that Pakistan lacks a modern early warning system, relying on technology from 1912 while other nations use AI-enabled systems for real-time alerts.
“We are still using a 1912 model to issue warnings,” Ms Rehman said.
On country’s severe water crisis, Senator Rehman noted that no ministry could provide a map of Pakistan’s groundwater extraction on any scale.
Officials from the water resource ministry were also unable to provide data on per capita surface water consumption or a precise count of active tube wells for agriculture.
The number of tube wells grew from 160,000 in 1975-76 to 1.39 million by 2017-18, dramatically increasing the rate of groundwater depletion, officials reported.
“For a country that has been declared water scarce by the UN this year, no evidence of harvesting water in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) or other planning, especially while we go through a torrential monsoon,” Ms Rehman said.
“It was a completely fragmented and inadequate response.”
She expressed dismay that no meaningful work was being done on recharge wells or other rainwater conservation methods.
“The world is prioritising this, but in Pakistan, we are stuck in inertia,” she said.
“There’s no current status of water storage; institutions are merely engaging in dialogue while the ground realities worsen.” The committee directed provincial authorities to present up-to-date reports and action plans on groundwater conditions, tube well regulation, and rainwater harvesting at its next meeting.
Land in Balochistan and Chitral has already turned barren due to water shortages, the committee noted.
The meeting was attended by senators Bushra Anjum Butt, Falak Naz, Syed Waqar Mehdi, and Shahadat Awan, along with senior officials from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Federal Flood Commission.
Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2025
Read Comments