Floods: Governance Challenges and the Roots of Repeated Climate Disasters in Pakistan

Zarmina Khan

Floods are among the most devastating natural disasters, and climate change is intensifying both their severity and unpredictability. Several factors contribute to the recurrence of floods including improper planning, weak institutional coordination, and inadequate funding for disaster planning and risk mitigation.

Flooding is the overflow of water onto land that is usually dry. There are different types of flooding.

1. River flood happens when rivers overflow due to heavy rain or snowmelt.
2. Flash Flood is considered an intense and sudden flood which happens due to heavy rainfall, thunderstorm, and it is extremely dangerous because it strikes rapidly and with little warning.
3. Coastal flood occurs when seawater is pushed onto land by storm surges, high tides, or tsunamis.
4. Urban Flood often happens due to poor drainage in urban areas, and water accumulates in streets and low-lying areas due to the poor infrastructure, blocked drainage systems, and unplanned urban development.
5. Pluvial Flood happens due to intense rainfall that couldn’t be absorbed by land or carried away by the drainage system. It can happen anywhere, even without nearby rivers or coastlines.

Climate change is altering the temperature and weather patterns globally. Climate change has an impact on flooding in several ways. As a warmer atmosphere contains more moisture, which leads to heavy rainfall. Warm seasons also lead to glacial melt, which adds more moisture to the air. Moreover, loss of trees due to deforestation and unstable soil conditions caused by urbanization increases the risk of floods and landslides. If the sea level rises, then the risk of coastal flooding will also increase. Glacial melting will add more water to the rivers and seas. Alterations in the weather patterns increase the frequency of droughts and floods in different regions. Cloudbursts occur when 100 mm or more rainfall pours down within an hour over a small area. It mostly occurs in mountainous or hilly areas, and it could lead to flash floods and landslides.

Hydrological Cycle theory explains how water moves through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff. When Climate change disrupts this cycle, then it increases the risk of severe and frequent floods.

Pakistan and many other countries like the United States, China, South Africa, Italy, etc., are facing extreme floods in 2025. Each flood is driven by different reasons, but most of the reasons are linked to climate change. Flood disaster highlights governance challenges, and this issue must be analyzed from a governance perspective, especially focusing on Climate adaptation policy, Disaster Management system, and infrastructure resilience. Pakistan is one of the most climate-impacted countries in the world. It is suffering from the extremely high temperature and rapidly melting glaciers.

According to the Federal Flood Commission Annual Report 2022, Pakistan has witnessed many major floods since 1950.

A deadly wave of heavy rainfall, which led to flash floods, swept across multiple provinces in Pakistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Baluchistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir, during June and July 2025. Especially, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Swat, Dir, Chitral), Azad Kashmir (Muzaffarabad, Neelum), Gilgit-Baltistan and Northern Punjab (Chakwal, Murree) are highly vulnerable areas for cloud bursts due to fragile soil, monsoon patterns and steep terrain. On May 27, 2025, a massive cloudburst occurred in Muzaffarabad, which had triggered a landslide that caused massive destruction. The heavy rainfall destroyed infrastructure and Neelum Highway also got blocked due to heavy rainfall. Tragically, one woman lost her life due to the cloudburst. A sudden cloudburst happened in Chakwal, and it dropped almost 423–449 mm of rain, leading to the inundation of low-lying residential areas and also triggering urban flooding in Chakwal. Local authorities had ordered evacuations due to the emergency operations. On May 17, 2025, Rawalpindi and Islamabad faced severe urban flooding as rainfall reached almost 240 mm in 18 hours. Sirens were sounded as the Nullah Leh water level rose to almost 22 feet. Pakistan Army assistance was mobilized to evacuate people and provide emergency relief and basic necessities. The torrential rainfall caused extreme destruction, resulting in significant loss of life, extensive displacement of communities, and severe damage to critical infrastructure. Since late June 2025, more than 100 people have lost their lives due to heavy rainfall and flash flooding in Pakistan.