Pakistan: The authorities of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, declared a climate emergency on Monday as heavy rains associated with the monsoon continued, inundating a large number of its homes and roads.
Although the monsoon rains that blow from June to September are key to irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, they also bring disasters every year.
Pakistan ranks eighth in the list of countries most exposed to severe weather caused by climate change, according to the environmental non-governmental organization Gear watch.
The Sindh government declared Monday a public holiday in Karachi and Hyderabad in an attempt to avoid the risk of flooding, but the low-lying areas that have been exposed to weeks of heavy rains have turned into disaster areas.
“More rain is expected in Karachi until tomorrow (Monday),” Pakistan Meteorological Bureau Director Sardar Sarfraz warned.
The National Disaster Management Authority said at least 312 people had died since June as a result of the rains.
In Karachi, at least two people were electrocuted Monday due to the fall of power lines in flooded streets, and this is one of the main causes of death in the city during the rainy season.
Heavy rains also disrupted flights and trains in the megacity of 15 million people.
