The search for one-year-old Zara was heartbreaking. Rescuers and relatives waded through knee-deep, muddy water in the northern Punjab village of Sambrial, desperately hoping to find her. She had been swept away by flash floods that had already claimed the lives of her parents and three siblings days earlier.
“We suddenly saw a lot of water. I climbed up to the roof and urged them to join me,” said Arshad, Zara’s grandfather, pointing to the dirt road where his family was taken. “But they couldn’t make it in time.”
Every monsoon season, Pakistan endures devastating floods. This year was no different—only worse. Starting in late June, torrential rains battered the country for months, killing more than 1,000 people and displacing millions. According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 6.9 million people were affected.
Despite contributing less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan is paying a heavy price for climate change. From the icy peaks of Gilgit-Baltistan to the fertile plains of Punjab, the BBC witnessed the climate crisis reshaping every corner of the country. Yet one thing remained constant—the poorest always suffer the most.
The Melting North: Glaciers Turning Deadly
The floods began in the mountainous north, where the effects of global warming are most visible. Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, home to over 7,000 glaciers across the Himalayas, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush ranges, has become a ticking time bomb.
Rising temperatures are melting glaciers faster than ever, creating unstable glacial lakes. When these lakes burst, they unleash sudden and deadly floods, known as glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).
This summer, dozens of such outbursts destroyed hundreds of homes and roads, cutting off remote villages. These disasters strike with little warning—communication networks are weak, and early warning systems often fail due to the rugged terrain.
Still, local communities have become their own first responders. When shepherd Wasit Khan woke up to the roar of rushing water and floating ice chunks, he ran to a high point to get cell service and alert his neighbors.
“I told everyone to leave their belongings, take their children and elders, and run for safety,” he said. His quick thinking saved dozens of lives.
Pakistan, with World Bank support, is now working to enhance its warning systems—but geography and limited infrastructure make it a daunting task.
Flash Floods and Tragedy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the story unfolded differently but with equally tragic consequences. In the mountain village of Gadoon, residents were found digging through debris with bare hands after a flash flood swept through at dawn.
A cloudburst—a sudden, intense downpour caused by moisture-laden air rising rapidly—had triggered the flood and landslides. The torrent flattened homes within minutes.
“Nothing will happen until the machines arrive,” one villager said, as excavators struggled to reach the site due to blocked and flooded roads.
Soon after, rescuers recovered the bodies of two children buried in the rubble. The silence that followed was haunting.
Scenes like this repeated across the province, where uprooted trees and destroyed bridges delayed rescue efforts. Even a helicopter carrying relief supplies crashed in the storm, killing all crew members aboard.
Illegal Construction: Building in the Path of Disaster
Pakistan’s flood problem is not just natural—it’s also man-made. Across cities and villages, millions have built homes dangerously close to rivers and streams. The River Protection Act, which bans construction within 200 feet of waterways, exists on paper but is rarely enforced.
In Islamabad, climate scientist Fahad Saeed pointed to an unfinished four-story building towering beside a stream that flooded earlier in the year, killing a child. “This is just a few kilometers from Parliament,” he said in frustration. “It’s misgovernance and corruption—officials turn a blind eye.”
Former Climate Minister Senator Sherry Rehman, who now chairs the Senate’s climate committee, calls it “graft”—bribes and political favors that allow illegal construction in flood zones. “Permits are handed out despite the dangers,” she said, “and ordinary people pay the price.”
The result: when the monsoon comes, rivers reclaim their floodplains, swallowing homes that should never have been built there.
Punjab: Pakistan’s Breadbasket Underwater
By late August, floods surged south into Punjab, Pakistan’s agricultural heartland. More than 4,500 villages were submerged, devastating farmlands that feed the nation.
For the first time in history, three major rivers—the Sutlej, Ravi, and Chenab—flooded simultaneously, unleashing the country’s largest rescue operation in decades.
“It was a historic anomaly,” said Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah, Chief Risk Officer at the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). “We had never seen this level of concurrent flooding.”
The human toll was immense. In Lahore, the difference between rich and poor was striking. In the affluent gated community of Park View City, residents had to evacuate as water from the Ravi River submerged their luxurious streets. “No problem,” one resident told the BBC. “Aleem Khan will fix it,” referring to the property developer and federal minister.
Meanwhile, in the nearby Theme Park neighborhood—a low-income area—the situation was dire. Many residents lost everything. “People keep going back to their flooded homes, trying to salvage what’s left,” an officer said. “Then the water rises again, and we have to rescue them all over.”
For families like Zara’s in Sambrial, the floodwaters did more than destroy homes—they erased generations of progress in an instant.
A Nation Drowning in Injustice
Pakistan’s floods expose deep inequalities and the consequences of climate inaction. While scientists warn that climate change is intensifying monsoons, governance failures and poor planning have magnified the damage.
Experts estimate that nearly 30 million people were affected by the catastrophic 2022 floods—a disaster that submerged a third of the country. Yet, despite repeated warnings, preventive measures remain weak.
The country’s fragile infrastructure, unchecked urban expansion, and underfunded relief systems ensure that every monsoon brings another national emergency.
Pakistan has demanded climate reparations from wealthier nations, arguing that it suffers disproportionately from global emissions it did not cause. But while international aid arrives slowly, ordinary Pakistanis continue to bear the brunt—families like Arshad’s, who have lost everything.
Standing on the muddy rooftop where he survived, Arshad said, “The government will come and go. The floods will come again. But no one can bring my family back.”
Conclusion
Pakistan’s monsoon floods are no longer seasonal disasters—they are a yearly reminder of the climate crisis, worsened by greed and neglect. From melting glaciers to illegal construction, from neglected infrastructure to unheeded warnings, every layer of the tragedy is man-made.
Unless decisive action is taken—enforcing laws, improving early warnings, and addressing global climate injustice—more families like Zara’s will be left searching in the waters for what they’ve lost.