THREE provinces — Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh — have been hardest hit by flash floods and urban flooding caused by heavy monsoons across the country in early September.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, as of September 17th , the floods had affected 1.1 million people and washed away 827,185 acres of crops and over 7,000 heads of cattle.

In Sindh torrential rains has wreaked havoc, rendering thousands of families homeless with many homes destroyed and crops devastated, particularly in upper Sindh, where Jacobabad received at least 481.1 millimeters of rainfall within one day, breaking the 24 year record of heaviest rainfall in the area. Kandhkot received 282 mm, Kashmore 280 mm in 24 hours. In Sukkur, 207.1 millimeters of rainfall has been recorded breaking the Aug 4, 2008 record when the district had received 92 mm of rainfall.

Other districts affected by rain induced floods include Khairpur, Ghotki, Shikarpur, Kashmore and Larkana. Almost all cities and town of Sindh are devoid of any land use plan. Unplanned sprawl in urban areas with illegal encroachment on public spaces, roads and waterways is common phenomenon.

With erratic growth in urban areas, flooding has become an increasingly serious development challenge. Cities and urban areas represent dense and complex systems of interconnected services. As such, they face a growing number of issues that drive disaster risk. Strategies and policies can be developed to address each of these issues, as part of an overall vision to make cities of all sizes and profiles more resilient and livable.

Sindh is the second most populous province. It is becoming highly urbanised, with nearly half of its population around 19 million living in urban areas. While about 70 per cent this urban population lives in Karachi or Hyderabad, many of the nearly six million people scattered across Sindh live in more than 20 secondary cities with urban populations exceeding 50,000.

Economic growth in these secondary cities lags that of Karachi and cities in Punjab. When provincial figures are adjusted for Karachi, the relative stagnation in economic growth in Sindh’s second-tier cities is clear. While the annual per capita income in Karachi is about $2,000, the figure for secondary cities in Sindh hovers around $200. That is far below the national average of $925 per annum. Barriers to economic growth include, among others, poor water and power supplies, inadequate connectivity to Karachi, insufficient skilled labour, and political uncertainty.

Sindh’s secondary cities are under increasing stress of population growth and continuing urban poverty. Provision of urban infrastructure and services has not kept pace with this population growth. Inadequate planning and infrastructure services management keep costs high and quality low while impeding these towns’ economic competitiveness. Insufficient and unreliable urban services add to business and household costs, damage the urban environment and diminish the quality of life, and decrease the attractiveness of these cities to potential investment (thus contributing to a downward spiral of development). The poor performance of local governments in delivering services also reduces their credibility and adversely affects their ability to perform other municipal functions.

There is no such thing as ‘natural disasters.’ Natural hazards floods, earthquakes, landslides and storms become disasters as a result of human and societal vulnerability and exposure, which can be addressed by decisive policies, actions and active participation of local stakeholders. Disaster risk reduction is an investment that protects lives, property, livelihoods, schools, businesses and employment.

The risk of not paying attention to disaster risk reduction can lead to serious deterioration of the economy and ecosystems and a loss of trust by the population. Frequent small and medium impact disasters and single intense events can severely disrupt community lifelines the systems that provide food distribution, water supply, health care, transportation, waste disposal, and communications locally and with the rest of the world.

Unless cities have a clear understanding of the risks they face, planning for meaningful disaster risk reduction may be ineffective. Risk analysis and assessments are essential prerequisites for informed decision making, prioritising projects, planning for risk reduction measures and identifying high, medium or low-risk areas, according to their vulnerability and the cost effectiveness of potential interventions. A well maintained database of disaster losses and a geographic information system to map hazards, vulnerabilities, the exposure of people and assets and capacities will provide the foundation for the risk assessment.

Risk assessments provide local authorities and the community with vetted and updated data, maps and other information on hazards, vulnerabilities and risk in order to take decisions regarding timely interventions before, during and after a disaster. Critical areas for flood risk and landslide prevention include: urban drainage and sewerage systems; disposal and control of solid waste; “green management” of the city with increased flood retention ponds; open permeable spaces and trees; slope stabilisation and erosion control; dikes and embankments and coastal protection. Not all hazards are destined to cause disasters. Preemptive measures can help avoid the disruption, incapacitation or destruction of networks, grids and infrastructure, which can cause severe social, health and economic consequences.

Cities should have safer infrastructure with standards in place through building codes and regulations. The application of construction codes and mechanisms for planning and monitoring the use of city land is a valuable way to reduce disaster vulnerability and risk from extreme events such as earthquakes, floods, fires, the release of hazardous materials and other phenomena.

Ecosystems provide protective buffers against natural hazards. They increase the resilience of communities by strengthening livelihoods and the availability and quality of drinking water, food supplies and other natural resources.

Through the process of urban expansion, cities transform their surrounding environment and often generate new risks. The urbanization of watersheds can modify hydrological regimes and destabilise slopes, increasing hazards such as floods and landslides. Maintaining a balance between human actions and ecosystems is an excellent strategy for reducing risk and contributing to resilience and sustainability.

Ecosystem based management considers the whole ecosystem, including humans and the environment. It focuses on natural environmental units such as watersheds, wetlands or coastal ecosystems and the human communities that live within them or rely on their resources. It recognises pressures from societal needs and excesses and seeks to promote patterns of land and resource use that do not undermine the core ecosystem functions and services that city dwellers rely on.

The writer is Executive Director, Centre for Environment & Development.