From Relief to Resilience: Parliamentary Engagement in Disaster Governance and Risk Reduction in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

One of the most frequent and the more devastating natural disasters in Pakistan is floods, which left behind massive human, economic and environmental destruction. Being the most populated and productive province in the country, Punjab suffers the impact of these floods because it has many river systems and is reliant on agriculture. Since 2010, 2014, 2022 and 2025 there have been other occurrences of repeated floods in Pakistan; however, the policy response towards such disasters has been more reactive and relief-focused. This paper discusses how Pakistan parliament can contribute to rehabilitation of community in Punjab that is affected by floods. It examines the parliamentary input in four domain: legislation, budgetary allocations, oversight and policy orientation. Based on documentary evaluations, case study examination and observation findings in South Asia, the study concludes that although parliament is involved in enacting legislation on disaster management, and sanctioning financial relief packages, but its involvement in long-term rehabilitation, climate adaptation, and accountability is demonstrated to be limited and insufficient. In this paper, it is argued that proactive flood governance in Punjab has become essential through parliamentary action to make it a cycle of repetition of emergency relief to a resilience-driven approach. Some of the recommendations are; the enactment of a comprehensive flood management structure, strict laws and policies, institutionalization of parliamentary oversight on rehabilitation funds, and entrenching climate resilience on sectoral policies; agriculture, housing and infrastructure.