THE 2026 monsoon season arrived in early July with a familiar pattern of destruction. Since June 26, torrential rains, cloudbursts, flash floods and landslides have killed over 122 people across Pakistan, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab suffering the heaviest losses. With the monsoon still underway, further damage remains a concern. Pakistan has faced heavy monsoon rains and flooding for decades, long before climate change became a major global concern. Climate change is real and intensifying weather-related hazards, but attributing every disaster to it risks overlooking another critical factor: inadequate governance and preparedness. The recurring losses demand stronger preventive measures and greater institutional accountability.

As early as November 2025, NDMA had formally warned that the 2026 monsoon would bring 22 to 26 percent more rainfall than the previous year. The NDMA Chairperson further cautioned that Pakistan’s more than 7,000 glaciers are melting at increasing rates and that heat waves would likely trigger Glacier Lake Outburst Floods across the northern areas. These warnings were available to the federal and provincial governments well in advance of the monsoon season. The real question is: what concrete preparedness measures were taken between November 2025 and July 2026? There is no satisfactory answer.

Having a Climate Change Ministry, NDMA and other organisations has not served the real objectives. Warnings about monsoon rains and likely hazards could largely be provided by the Pakistan........

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