This week’s unprecedented flooding across Punjab has once again laid bare the country’s deep vulnerability to climate change – and the state’s inability to respond with foresight. Heavy monsoon rains combined with India’s release of water from multiple dams have swollen the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers, forcing mass evacuations and prompting the Punjab government to call in the army for rescue operations. Thousands now face displacement, their lives upended by a crisis that has become all too familiar.
While India was compelled to release water in the face of rising reservoir levels, the manner of communication left much to be desired. New Delhi chose to inform Islamabad through diplomatic channels rather than via the Indus Waters Commission — the very mechanism designed to manage such transboundary water issues. This sidestepping of the IWT treaty undermines an already fragile trust. Yet even if the warning had come through the proper forum, Pakistan’s institutional deficiencies mean the suffering would hardly have been averted.
Our own failures remain glaring. The National Disaster Management Authority has yet to evolve into anything more than a reactive body, issuing alerts once waters have risen rather than investing in prevention. There is still no robust early warning system, no serious investment in mitigation infrastructure, and no whitepapers offering research-driven solutions. Floods are treated as annual inevitabilities instead of recurring threats that demand long-term policy and planning. It is equally true that both India and Pakistan are paying the price of the same climate front. Entire regions across South Asia are being battered by intensifying weather patterns, but instead of recognising this as a shared crisis requiring collaboration, the two neighbours continue to view water flows as another battleground.
The need of the hour is aggressive climate diplomacy – not just with New Delhi, but also at the global stage. Pakistan must push to mobilise international expertise and, more importantly, put its own house in order.
