Why monsoon 2022 devastated Pakistan
PEC takes engineering with horns, recommends integrated plan
Top engineers resolve to shoulder authorities in
rebuilding effort, corrective measures

Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC)’s brainstorming session chaired by Chairman Engr. Najeeb Haroon has recommended making a comprehensive integrated plan keeping in view climate change, its impacts on Pakistan, and also the nation’s past flood experiences in the country.
The sitting held at the council’s headquarters in Islamabad had a comprehensive attendance of engineers both from civilian and military sides and also it touched each and every aspect of the devastation caused by monsoon rains in Pakistan this year.
Also, the brainstorming session manifested the willingness of the council to play its part as the largest body of engineers in Pakistan and to offer its engineering expertise to the federal government and all provincial governments in the country.
Chairman Engr. Haroon said the engineers should take responsibility so that a required improvement should be brought about in engineering projects from top to bottom.
The moot was of the view that the future plan should be made in a way that the country should not undergo the situation that it is faced with this year.
The exchange indicated that Pakistan did not have a history of executing the plans that were designed at the advent of situations. One participant, sharing his experience said, in 2010, the then government made a committee to formulate a plan but it did not put it into execution.
A participant from Balochistan talked about remedial measures and insisted on ensuring funds in July so that the flood plans are executed. He also talked about a comprehensive analysis of the heaviest rains in Balochistan and Sindh—the provinces that got 500 percent and 400 percent more rains respectively. He said since the damage is the effect, we should look into the causes.
The setting also talked about the ignorance of Sindh’s terrain due to which the province witnessed the devastation caused by the gushing waters from Balochistan’s mountainous range. Since the bed of the river is above ground level, flood waters do not fall back into the river. Also, the waterways are obstructed by road networks and land grabbing for the increase of population. Now, water has to be flushed out of these lands, and for which the terrain should be understood in these areas.
They also referred to the observations of the international institutions and media that indicated and wrote about the huge lakes made by flood waters in the middle of Sindh.
This view was echoed by another participating engineer who recommended forming coordination committees tasked to ensure that the floods are passed through the river safely.
A senior engineer from KP also talked about the choking of waterways in his province where besides other areas, a city like Naushehra was almost submerged in flood waters. His view revealed choking of waterways all over the country turns out to be one of the most significant issues in flood management operations.
He emphasized that the laws relating to waterways must be enforced in letter and spirit.
The moot talked about legislation relating to engineering, policy, and law so that all plans sail smoothly without any obstacles all over the country.
On the rehabilitation side, the session had a very pertinent suggestion for rebuilding areas washed away by flood waters. For instance, a participant recommended having an early warning system at the lower level such as Union Council. He said we need to create higher grounds, NDMA should be informed to provide relief, solar systems should be installed for providing clean water, model villages should be set up, dykes should be redesigned and all dams should be passed through forensic examination.
Yet another participant, focusing on the macro-level recommended formulating national guidelines for structures. He also said the priority should be fixed on the livelihood of the people and there should be national guidelines as to how to deal with such situations. There should be separate flood plans for each province.
The session, in one or the other way, talked about looking at things fresh in the context of climate change that devastated Pakistan this year. Engineers from Balochistan were also in resonance with this view and recommended that all development funds of the provinces usually earmarked under annual development programs should be diverted to rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts of the provinces.
The moot also had a voice against the bad governance in the country and a senior engineer attributed much of this devastation to bad governance. He said nepotism and corruption are on the rise in the country which must be curbed.
The participants included Engr. Lt Gen(R) Moazzam Ejaz, Engr. Syed Raghib Abbas Shah, Engr. Dr. Tahir Masood, Engr. Ahmad Kamal, Engr. Zahid Arif, Engr. Muhammad Waseem Asghar, Engr. Syed Muhammad Mehr Ali Shah, Engr. Dr. Abdul Sattar Shakir, Engr. Waseem Nazir, Engr. Dr. Bashir Lakhani, Engr. Sikandar Hayat Khattak, Engr. Qazi Iftikhar, Engr. Dr. Tabassum Zahoor, Engr. Manzoor Shaikh, Engr. Tahir Hayat and Engr. Farooq Sheikh.n