Pakistan continues to rank among the world’s most vulnerable countries when it comes to natural disasters. A new World Bank report has sounded the alarm, warning that earthquakes, landslides, floods, and water scarcity pose a serious threat to the country’s infrastructure, economy, and people’s wellbeing.
The report, “Evidence-based Targeting of Infrastructure Investments: A Model for Accessibility to Services in Pakistan’s Rural Communities,” ranks Pakistan as the fifth most affected nation by extreme weather events linked to climate change.
Outdated Infrastructure Practices
The report paints a troubling picture of how Pakistan manages its infrastructure. Road maintenance budgets are still often prepared using simple visual inspections, a practice that is subjective and vulnerable to political influence.
With toll revenues and rights-of-way fees bringing in insufficient funds, road agencies remain heavily dependent on shrinking government development budgets.
This outdated system has left Pakistan’s road network fragile, particularly in the face of worsening floods and other disasters. The 2022 floods, among the most destructive in the nation’s history, highlighted these vulnerabilities when one-third of the country was submerged.
Read more: Pakistan floods devastate crops, disrupt supply chains, farmers warn of billions in losses
The catastrophe impacted 33 million people, displaced 8 million, destroyed 2.2 million houses, and damaged 13,000 kilometers of roads.
Heavy Reliance on Road Transport
Transportation in Pakistan is dominated by roads, which account for 95 percent of passenger and freight movement. But this heavy reliance has strained the network, especially at the provincial level, where road quality remains poor. Provinces typically allocate only 20% to 30% of the required maintenance funds, making deterioration inevitable.
The World Bank warns that without smarter investments, Pakistan risks a cycle of recurring damage and costly reconstruction after every disaster.
Rural Communities Left Behind
The report also stresses that 62% of Pakistan’s population lives in rural areas, where access to schools, healthcare, and markets is limited by poor infrastructure. Geography, difficult terrain, and low-quality roads compound the problem, creating large disparities between rural and urban communities.
Strategic, evidence-based investments in rural road networks could play a part in bridging this gap, offering masses greater access to opportunities, boosting human capital, and reducing poverty.
A Call for Climate-Resilient Development
The World Bank recommends that to build a stronger future Pakistan must need to focus on modernizing its engineering and design standards to incorporate climate resilience. Expanding road networks must go hand in hand with proper maintenance, smart planning, and new technologies that provide protection to the infrastructure from disasters.
The report summarizes that this evidence-based approach to infrastructure investment is extremely important. It will target underserved regions and prioritize climate-smart projects, which is going to improve accessibility, strengthen its economy and safeguard its people against the growing threats of climate change.