Enhancing community engagement and resilience: Reducing the socio-economic impacts of flooding in Pakistan

Abstract:

Riverine floods have been recorded as the most devastating and costly natural hazard affecting the lives of people around the world. Asia is the most flood-affected region, accounting for nearly 50% of flood-related fatalities in the last quarter of the 20th century. Only in Asia more than 41 million people have been affected by flooding in 2017 and about 2000 people on average lost their lives due to severe flooding each year. Recent accelerations in population growth and changes in land use patterns have increased human vulnerability to these floods, resulting in more losses of lives and property. Effective Water Resources Management is required to identify the flood prone areas and control the development in the areas of high flood risk to protect communities from these losses. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) of the United States (US) provides an excellent framework for the flood management and affordable insurance to protect property and life losses resulting from frequent floods. This study aims to analyze flood losses in Pakistan and the preventive measure already in place, while also providing the road map to an affordable insurance program for the flood prone communities. The economic losses are on an increase because of poor flood management and lack of preventive measures in rural areas. Despite the repetitive losses, communities tend to build back in the floodplain areas while taking no preventive measures in new constructions, which makes them more vulnerable to a major flood event. Civic education and outreach is must in making the communities learn and implement the basic preventive measures with the help of local government. Implementation of the better water management will help alleviate the sufferings to affectees in flood prone areas. Insurance system will strengthen the community resilience to floods using effective floodplain management and preventive measures from the premium charged to the communities. Therefore, it is vital to put more consideration in this area of flood plain management and community collaboration, and in return we will have a strong community protecting themselves of flood devastation well in time.