Dadu: In the devastating floods that submerged Pakistan last summer, Noor Bibi lost her mother, her daughter, and the roof over her head. She is still homeless a year later and is living in spartan tents near the spot where the Sohbat Khosa village in southern Sindh province was completely destroyed by the flood.

Farmworker Noor, who is getting close to retirement age, asks God for "someone with righteous thoughts who will help us build some good houses in a high place."
We wouldn't sustain such significant losses if it flooded again, she told AFP.

However, government promises to rebuild large portions of Pakistan that were devastated by floods so they are resilient to upcoming extreme weather have largely fallen through. Last summer's monsoon floods submerged a third of the nation, causing eight million additional people to flee their homes and killing 1,700 people.

Also Read: Deputy governor of a province in northern Afghanistan was killed in a car bombing

According to scientists, climate change is making the seasonal rains heavier and more unpredictable, which makes it even more urgent to protect the nation from flooding.

The poor, who frequently reside in the most vulnerable areas, will feel the effects of doing nothing about it most keenly.

There is no sign of rehabilitation in this severely flooded Dadu district. Only a few pieces of public infrastructure are still in disrepair, and locals or NGOs are left to rebuild housing.

Islamabad announced a $16.3 billion "Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework" in January, but it is only on paper at this point.

$9 billion has been pledged by international donors as well, but the majority of the funds will be in the form of loans.

The crops of the villagers were destroyed by the floods, depriving them of a source of income that might have enabled them to forge their own path to recovery.
The Sohbat Khosa residents only managed to raise enough money for a water tank and a toilet with their combined funds.

The Alkhidmat Foundation, a Pakistani NGO, is their best hope; it intends to construct about 30 new residences.

According to Ali Muhammad, a coordinator for Alkhidmat in Dadu, "the government appears to not exist here, and if anything is done by the government, that is only corruption."

Pakistan is currently experiencing simultaneous political and economic crises that have halted all government initiatives. However, decades of persistent fraud and poor management are also to blame.

The amount of damage is "colossal," said foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to AFP, adding that "building back better is expensive."

Also Read: South Korean official Yoon calls the US alliance "nuclear-based"

Even though his party controls Sindh province, he claimed he "can't speak to what the federal government has done," adding that "we've started a couple of initiatives."
One is funding home reconstruction through non-profit and charitable organisations, he said.

Alkhidmat, like the other two NGOs AFP spoke with, relies solely on private funding and has never received any public funding.

Several dozen homes have been built in the district as a result of Alkhidmat's efforts, but that number pales in comparison to the two million homes that the floods damaged or destroyed.

There will eventually be 80 houses built by the foundation in the village of Bari Baital, which was underwater until November but is now expected to house thousands of people.

They are built with reinforced roofs, water-resistant cement, and brick pillars to withstand future downpours.
Imtiaz Ali Chandio, a village teacher, claimed that "people are completely unaware of climate change."
They only know that their community has served as a "passage for floods for centuries," he said.
However, moving is not an option, so the scenario will probably happen again soon.
Abdulrahim Brohi, who had already experienced devastating floods in 2010, questioned, "Where else could we go?" Everything we own is present.
"Somewhere else people won't accept us," continued Brohi, who places his age between 50 and 60. "How can we afford land elsewhere when we don't have the resources to rebuild our homes here?"

The Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan, coveted by tourists for its picturesque mountain vistas, was severely affected by the floods of the previous year.

As ferocious waters were funnelled down the ravine, hundreds of hotels, restaurants, businesses, and homes that were perched on the banks of the Swat river were swept away.

According to Irfanullah Khan Wazir, Swat's deputy commissioner, "a complete ban on the construction of any sort of building on the river" has been imposed by the authorities to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

However, the government's authority is so weak in Bahrain, a small resort town that was once partially submerged, that construction workers are blatantly disregarding the ban.

Just a few metres from the flowing water, a number of stores, restaurants, and hotels have undergone renovations or reconstruction. On the same site where it was severely damaged, the mosque itself has been rebuilt.

Hotel manager Zafar Ali lamented, "People are engaging in illegal construction on weekends, but [authorities] are paying no attention — their silence is perplexing."

Twenty metres (65 feet) from the river, in a zone he claims is authorised, work is being done on his own property.

It is now shielded by a flood wall that is twice as tall as the prior one. They were unable to move away from their waterfront location due to economic considerations as well.

The river should be visible from tourists' windows, according to Ali. "Those constructed further away struggle to pay their bills."
Locals in Swat criticised the authorities' inaction as well. The main road that follows the river has been reopened, but substantial portions of the tarmac are still missing.

Only some homeowners who lost their homes have been eligible for compensation programmes. They receive 400,000 rupees ($1,400), far too little to begin reconstruction.

For simple access to the water, Bahraini tailor Muhammad Ishaq built his home close to a river. He had to move in with his father further up the mountainside after witnessing the flooding engulf his home.

Also Read: Staff information from the BBC, British Airways, and Boots was allegedly stolen by a Russian hacker

According to him, the going is tougher there, but even if he succeeds in rebuilding, he "will have to stay away from the river."