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In a recent disaster, nearly half of the 266 people killed in Pakistan's monsoon season this year have been children on their national school holidays, exposing once again the government's chronic failure to protect its most vulnerable citizens, Geo News reported.
According to Geo News, 126 children have died since June 26 due to Pakistan's heavier-than-normal monsoon rains. Most deaths occurred in Punjab, where rainfall levels have been reported as 70 per cent higher than last year. Children, left unsupervised due to school closures, fell victim to electrocutions, flash floods, building collapses, and drowning. Mazhar Hussain of the Punjab Provincial Disaster Management Agency admitted that "children are very vulnerable to this situation," but his explanation only highlighted the absence of proactive safety measures. "They are playing in the water, bathing, and electricity shocks can happen," he said, according to Geo News. The statement underscores the complete lack of public infrastructure and emergency protocols in a country that faces monsoon rains every year. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed that 266 people have been killed nationwide so far, with hundreds more injured, Geo News reported. The rains have been especially destructive this year, even though the worst of the monsoon season is typically expected in August. In Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan, a landslide swept away vehicles in a popular tourist area. Earlier, in late June, 13 tourists were killed after being swept away by flash floods while sheltering near a riverbank, Geo News stated. The monsoon season provides South Asia with 70 per cent to 80 per cent of its yearly precipitation and lasts from the end of June through September in Pakistan. The yearly rainfall is crucial for agriculture and food security, impacting the lives of countless farmers while also causing devastation. In 2022, floods during the monsoon inundated a third of the nation and resulted in the loss of 1,700 lives. The government's reactive approach, year after year, leaves ordinary citizens, especially children, paying the price for state negligence. (ANI)
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