- By: Seerat Muntaha
- Sukkur IBA University
Every year, when heavy river rise and rains fall, Pakistan suffers. Whole villages go under water, families run to rooftops for safety, and children hold on to broken boats. We call it a “natural disaster,” but is it really natural to do nothing when we know it will happen again?
Our response is always late. We spend billions only after the damage is done-on rescue camps, reports of losses and food supplies. The news shows the suffering, leaders make promises, and people donate to help. But when the water goes down, so does the urgency. By the time the next monsoon comes, nothing has changed.
The truth is, we already know the problems but nothing change. Embankments break in the same places every year. City drains are full of garbage and cannot carry rainwater. Climate change is making rains heavier and floods worse. The problem is not knowledge—it is lack of action.
Prevention is possible. Strong embankments can save villages. Early-warning systems can give families time to move to safety. Clean and planned drainage can stop streets from turning into rivers. These things cost less than rebuilding homes, schools, and fields after the flood. Yet year after year, we ignore them and pay the bigger price.
Helping people after a disaster is kindness, but stopping it before it happens is fairness. Kindness comforts the victims, but fairness protects them from becoming victims in the first place. Real leadership means planning ahead, not waiting for tragedy.
Floods destroy more than homes—they destroy futures. Farmers lose crops, schools turn into shelters, roads break, and diseases spread in dirty water. Families take years to recover, only to face the same suffering again.
The next flood will surely come. It is not a question of if, but when. The choice is ours: wait and suffer again, or act now to prevent the damage. Rescue work may bring headlines, but prevention will save lives. Pakistan needs leaders who will choose action before disaster, not after.