Floods 2022: Situation, Response, Blind Spots, and Way Forward
Encroachment an underlying
cause of disaster; at least
Rs. 400 bn required for recovery

Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam and Centre for Business and Economic Research (CBER), Institute of Business Administration Karachi jointly organized a special webinar titled “Floods 2022: Situation, Response, Blind Spots, and Way Forward” on 1st September 2022. Dr. Junaid Alam Memon, Director CBER, moderated the webinar and set the context by introducing the speakers.
Dr. Fateh Marri, Vice Chancellor Sindh Agriculture University Tando Jam provided the status for the current situation of the disaster and emphasized the loss of economic activity, future productions, missed opportunities, and the limited capacity of human resources. He said that the universities of Pakistan are not only engaged in flood relief operations but are committed to providing policy advice, technical assistance, and setup solution-oriented research agenda.
Dr.Iqrar Ahmed Khan, Vice Chancellor of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad highlighted that drainage is the main issue for Sindh province due to its location and it requires attention. He also suggested that while providing food items to affected households, the feed for their livestock may also be part of their relief package. He hoped that the farmers would be able to cultivate wheat if lands become ready otherwise oilseeds are to be planned.
Dr. Mubarik Ahmed from TDAP confirmed that the agriculture losses to the country are huge, and among other crops, some 80% of the cotton in Sindh and 100% of the cotton crop in Baluchistan are affected. He warned that the disaster would result in reduced export and increase our dependence on food and seed imports.
Dr. Abdul Rehman, Pro Vice Chancellor, BUITMS, Quetta talked about damages to cities and pointed toward increased incidences of domestic violence, child labor, and various forms of harassment that often slip from disaster response initiatives.
Mr. Naseer Memon, Country Representative of Asian Disaster Preparedness Center Pakistan pointed out that the encroachment in the rural and urban areas is the underlying cause of the flood-induced disaster and held weak institutional capacity and lack of political will is responsible for that.
Dr. Shereen Narejo, former Chairperson of Planning, and Development Department Sindh spoke at a webinar that the issue of population growth is often missed in climate discourse and emphasized that disaster is our collective problem and requires collective action. She said that society as a whole has to take the required steps, and academia and others have to play their due role.
While concluding the webinar Mr. Fazullilah Qureshi, Former Federal Secretary, Planning Commission pointed out that floods may be a national catastrophe but of different magnitude for different provinces and suggested that Sindh is worst hit due to faulty projects such as LBOD. He said that a minimum amount of Rs. 400 billion be allocated for flood recovery for Sindh by federal and provincial governments by reducing unnecessary expenditures. He proposed to have an oversight body including government, academia, and civil society for flood recovery works and funds management.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Chairman Higher Education Commission informed that HEC has created a sizable research fund specifically to support evidence-based and solution-oriented research to address current and future natural disasters. He said that the higher education sector is fully aware of the situation and public and private sector universities are playing their role in relief work. The webinar was attended by Dr. Qamar u Zaman, Vice Chancellor, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Dr. Robina Wihaj of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and others