Editorials, Zafar Bangash
Teetering on the brink, Pakistan’s economy was dealt another blow by the devastating floods that inundated more than one-third of the country last month. It will be decades before Pakistan recovers from the consequences of the deluge, the most severe in its entire history. In addition to 2,000 people dead, an estimated 20 million have been made homeless when their villages and towns were submerged under water. Hardest hit is the country’s northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) where three river systems overflowed their banks. Entire villages simply disappeared as water swept poorly built houses. Even concrete and brick homes could not withstand the force of the surging water. According to reports, 80% of all bridges in the province have been washed away. As the country’s only major river — the Indus — surged southward, villages in Punjab and Sind were also flooded. Floods have affected areas as far away as Baluchistan province destroying villages as well as standing crops.
