The country had been experiencing an unusually quiet monsoon — until the crippling downpour in Peshawar on Aug 21.

In fact, the rain that has lashed parts of Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab this week has added to the situation the familiar elements of helplessness and resignation.

Some 80 deaths have been reported so far, the water levels in the rivers are rising and many districts in northeastern Punjab and the area above it are in imminent danger of flash floods.

Also Read: Death toll touches 86 as torrential rains continue

Submerged and paralysed by water, Lahore and Rawalpindi are being cited as examples of how not to prepare for heavy rain.

Meanwhile, further into the districts, the challenge of rescue and of controlling rain damage is formidable.

It is on such occasions that the rural areas that otherwise exist on the periphery of national attention make an appearance. News from ‘distant’ villages indicates large-scale destruction and experts warn this may be only the beginning of the trouble unleashed by the skies.

It may take time to quantify the damage caused by these initial torrents, and the death count could turn out to be less. But there is no dispute that the authorities have a huge crisis on their hands.

They have no option but to put off all else and get down to fighting the rain and flood.

The Punjab chief minister has said his government will tap all resources to counter the challenge and his counterpart in KP has also committed his government to pledging the best it has.

These two gentlemen, however, are severely hampered by the absence of the lower tier — the local governments — which could have been useful in combating the floods.

The absence of local governments is not the only evidence of how we keep delaying what is necessary until disaster strikes.

The country has witnessed frequent floods.

The most devastating of these in the recent past was the 2010 deluge that caused large-scale destruction and sent experts scurrying to study remedies for the future.

A summing up of what preventive actions could have been taken to avoid or minimise this latest emergency will again unmask inefficiency and sluggishness.

But while this standard exercise can be put off for the moment, a few other points can be repeated. In today’s world, large dams and smaller reservoirs are considered essential to controlling the river flow. This is where Pakistan has made slow progress.

It may not be a practical solution in the case of each river, but where it is, the need is to proceed with urgency.

Also, encroachments are the first to be exposed to a river’s rage. Narrowing the path of the rivers results in tides which are ready to boil over.

It is crucial that when containment is discussed the issue of encroachment is seriously addressed.

Published in Dawn, September 6th , 2014