TORRENTIAL rains and flash floods left at least 23 people dead in Shangla recently. The ongoing monsoon onslaught has destroyed houses, mosques and schools. Roads and bridges have been swept away. The district’s mountainous communities remain delinked from the mainstream. And, farmland has been severely damaged, compounding the suffering of already vulnerable families.

When such disasters strike, Shangla’s residents face immediate and severe disruption in electricity supply. Most villages have to depend on small, locally-built generators along the rivers. This happens even though two dams in Shangla produce around 86MW of electricity, which far exceeds the district’s estimated requirement of 7MW. Yet, due to policy restrictions, the power generated in Shangla is not supplied to the local communities. As a result, when floods damage the local generators, the entire region and its people are forced to suffer in darkness.

Communication is another casualty. Internet service, already unreliable across the district, collapses almost entirely during such events. With damaged lines and disrupted signals, residents are cut off from vital information, unable to contact loved ones, or access digital resources, which is a serious handicap in an era in which connectivity is a basic necessity.

Road infrastructure, too, is a long-standing vulnerability. The road to the Kana region, serving at least 10 major villages, is a telling example. Originally constructed in 1964 under the Wali of Swat, it remained largely neglected for decades and is only now, in 2025, under-going reconstruction — a process that began after public protests and threats.

Floods wreak havoc on such roads, and given the lethargic pace of repairs, damage can mean years of isolation. This affects not just transportation, but also timely access to health facilities, schools and the district headquarters.

Scientific evidence shows that Pakistan is among the top 10 countries most affected by climate change. Glacial melt, erratic monsoons, and more intense rainfall events are increasing the frequency and severity of floods in regions like Shangla.

Deforestation, unregulated construction, inefficient drainage systems, and fragile infrastructure — from power lines to rural roads — compound the risk, turning heavy rains into lethal disasters.

By ignoring these factors, the govern-ment is only allowing the tragedy to keep revisiting the area year after year. Climate change adaptation is no longer optional, it is a survival imperative. Shangla’s tragedy should serve as a call for urgent, coordinated action.

Strengthening infrastructure, improving early warning systems, enforcing environ- mental protections, upgrading communi- cation networks, and heavily investing in disaster-resilient housing are essential steps. The government must also integrate local communities into disaster risk reduction plans, ensuring they are trained and equipped to respond.

Pakistan needs binding national and provincial policies that link climate change adaptation with development planning. Budget allocations for disaster prepared-ness must be treated as an investment, not a charitable afterthought.

As the people of Shangla bury their dead and rebuild their lives, the nation must move beyond fatalism, confront the reality of climate change, and commit to policies that protect lives and livelihoods.

Asad Khan
Shangla

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2025