ISLAMABAD: Though the government foresees significant negative “impact of climate change and unforeseen natural disasters on economy,” it has shown little political will to support millions of people affected by last year’s mega floods in the next budget.
This was the crux of Pattan-Coalition38’s report based on a survey research conducted in May-June 2026 with 140 flood-affected households across 35 severely-affected communities in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The research aimed to assess the extent of recovery, current vulnerabilities, preparedness for future floods and public perceptions regarding government disaster management and rehabilitation efforts in remote areas, highly flood-prone riverine areas, and those areas that had experienced repeated flooding over the last 15 years.
The survey highlighted a troubling pattern of unequal recovery.
Most survivors of last year’s floods now face even greater vulnerability, says Pattan-Coalition38
While a small minority of households reported substantial compensation and successful reconstruction, most families continued to struggle with damaged homes, lost livelihoods, depleted assets and growing debt.
According to the report, the impact of disaster was shaped not only by the intensity of hazards but also by underlying social and economic inequalities.
The processes appeared to have disproportionately benefited a small segment of local elites and influential groups, while poorer households continued to struggle with loss of livelihoods, damaged homes, reduced assets, and declining access to basic services.
Consequently, pre-existing inequalities had not only persisted but, in many cases, deepened during the recovery period.
Resultantly, it deepened inequality, poverty as well as marginalisation, especially in south Punjab, causing not only dissatisfaction but also anger amongst the affected communities.
Most survey respondents reported receiving little or no meaningful support from governments.
More than three-quarters of surveyed households considered themselves poorer than before the floods, while only a small minority (less than 7pc) reported full recovery of losses, livelihoods, housing or assets.
Climate change awareness among respondents was remarkably high.
More than 90 per cent of participants identified climate change as a major contributor to increasingly severe and unpredictable flooding.
However, an equally large majority expressed dissatisfaction with government efforts to strengthen community resilience or prepare vulnerable populations for future disasters.
The study found virtually no evidence of meaningful community-level disaster preparedness.
Most respondents reported that preparedness measures, early warning systems, evacuation planning and community-based disaster risk reduction activities were either absent or ineffective.
The study also found that 79 per cent of surveyed households were poorer today than they were before the floods while only 2.8 per cent reported being economically better off.
More than 70 per cent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with government compensation and recovery efforts and only 4.7 per cent reported fully recovering their flood-related losses.
Housing reconstruction remained slow and inadequate. More than two-thirds of affected households had been unable to substantially rebuild or repair their homes.
One year later, more families lived under fragile (kutcha) houses than before.
Similarly, recovery of livelihoods, livestock, agricultural assets, household possessions and personal belongings remained limited.
The research also highlighted growing concerns regarding access to safe drinking water, environmental degradation and declining trust in public institutions.
Overall, the findings suggest that the 2025 floods had left vulnerable communities with diminished resilience, weakened livelihoods, and heightened exposure to future disasters.
Unless substantial investments were made in preparedness, transparent governance, community resilience and equitable recovery mechanisms, future floods were likely to reproduce and intensify existing patterns of poverty, marginalization, and social inequality.
The report recommended introducing disaster preparedness at the community level, improving transparency in compensation and relief distribution, reducing opportunities for corruption through digital systems, establishing robust social accountability mechanisms, empowering local governments, promoting renewable energy solutions, and investing in long-term resilience-building measures for flood-prone populations.
Key findings included nearly 79pc of households remained poorer than before the floods.
Only 20 out of 140 surveyed households reported receiving any government compensation while more than 90pc of respondents believed government institutions were not doing enough to build community resilience.
Nearly nine out of 10 respondents reported no community-based disaster preparedness activities in their localities and more than two-thirds of households had been unable to substantially repair or rebuild their homes.
About 57pc of households reported no recovery of livelihood-related losses while 42pc of respondents reported no recovery at all from overall flood losses.
Friends and relatives were identified as the most trusted source of support during emergencies, while nearly half of respondents said they were unaware of government compensation packages announced after the floods.
Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2026