While the immediate attention in Pakistan concerns flood relief efforts that have impacted a huge percentage of the land and in turn the population and the lingering impacts on environmental scale may be equally concerning once the waters have receded. The traditional rainy season has been extremely harsh the summer resulting in the worst flooding in living memory causing the deaths of several thousand and the loss of homes for many millions more. Three weeks of extreme flooding has caused rivers to become lakes and entire towns to be submerged underneath dirty brown water, the immediate concerns are of course humanitarian in nature as disease increases while the entire infrastructure of the inner regions of Pakistan is crippled by the flooding.

The crisis itself has grown rapidly over the last few weeks, while gaining a full and proper assessment of the damage is very difficult to compile. Even while governments and aid agencies are coming together to provide some degree of relief to Pakistan a government report published today looks at the long-term potential implications caused by the flooding and the damage ecologically to the nation. The two highest concerns are naturally water supplies and the impact on agricultural infrastructure and therefore the food supplies for the nation.

Experts are suggesting that this is the worst flooding to impact Pakistan for many generations, as a result gauging the impact is extremely difficult for the country now has a population estimated at 170 million as opposed to just under 50 million in 1960. The pressures on the food and water supplies for Pakistan are naturally greater than the last time such devastating weather impacted the country. The primary source for water in Pakistan is the now overflowing Indus River and beyond the flooding itself is the damage to sanitation and sewage plants caused by the flooding. Even before this event international observers had published reports expressing that the burden on the food  infrastructure and security of distribution was already approaching a crisis level. The flooding can only emphasize just how stretched the food management chain within Pakistan currently is. The immediate aid will hopefully bring a level of stability to those displaced and bring urgently needed help to curtail what is rapidly turning into a major health crisis. It’s the period of time after the flooding that perhaps should bring the most concern. How best to provide the crop assistance, irrigation and sanitation support as well as ensure that food and water can be transported equitably and smoothly into the central region of the country which is under such intense pressure at the moment.

It will of course take great organization and planning to help Pakistan through the immediate weeks but also to safeguard the food and water distribution within the country. The United Nations will take an active role with such planning and we must hope the environmental impacts of the flooding do not bring heightened instability to the country which would be the last thing it needs.