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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is highly vulnerable to natural disasters —including earthquakes, landslides, and water scarcity —all of which greatly damage the country’s infrastructure and, consequently, negatively affect people’s welfare, said the World Bank. In a stark assessment, the Bank has ranked Pakistan fifth among nations most affected by extreme weather events driven by climate change.
The findings, published in its report “Evidence-based targeting of infrastructure investments, a model for accessibility to services in Pakistan’s rural communities”, underscore the urgent need for resilient infrastructure and smarter investment strategies to safeguard rural communities.
The Bank has pointed out that road maintenance budgets are prepared based on visual inspections — a method that is often subjective and vulnerable to political influence.
Floods could strain Pakistan’s economy and disrupt food supplies, warns finance ministry
Further, most road agencies, revenue streams from tolls and rights-of-way (RoW) are either insufficient or nonexistent, leading them to rely heavily on public-sector development budgets, which are shrinking.
The report noted that geography, transport infrastructure, service and population locations, and urban-focused transport services all affect accessibility to services and economic opportunities. Disparities in service accessibility are exacerbated in rural areas due to the terrain, poorer road networks and road conditions, and fewer services provided.
Gaps in accessibility must be evaluated and then identified so that policymakers can guide investment decisions to address these challenges in the most deprived areas.
The engineering and design standards adopted by road agencies are old and do not sufficiently address issues relating to climate resilience. The country’s increased vulnerability to these natural hazards, along with inadequate maintenance, has led to wider disparities in accessibility to services such as schools, health facilities, and markets, especially for Pakistan’s rural population.
The need for a prioritization tool that incorporates a multi-sectoral approach was evident during reconstruction efforts after the devastating floods that hit Pakistan in the summer of 2022 (some of the worst in the country’s history). One-third of the country was submerged underwater; about 33 million people were impacted directly; 8 million people were displaced; and 2.2 million houses and 13,000 kilometers of roads were destroyed.
It further stated that the transportation landscape in Pakistan is primarily dominated by road transport, which accounts for approximately 95 percent of both passenger and freight trips. This modal imbalance and the inefficiencies of the trucking sector result in overburdening and deterioration of road networks, especially the provincial road network.
The overall quality of provincial road infrastructure is low, despite a high reliance on road transport and the expansion of the network, and maintenance remains a challenge due to a lack of funds and modern asset management systems. In addition, the maintenance budgets are prepared based on visual inspections and are highly politicized.
For most road agencies, revenue streams from tolls and rights-of-way (RoW) are either insufficient or nonexistent; therefore, they tend to rely heavily on public-sector development budgets, which are shrinking.
On average, provinces allocate only 20 to 30 percent of their required maintenance budgets. Thus, an innovative approach toward investment in road infrastructure capital is needed for the expansion of the network and maintenance of the existing network.
The report noted that accessibility to services and economic opportunities is influenced by factors such as geography, availability, quality of transport infrastructure, and the location of services.
The diversity in service and population locations, along with transportation systems primarily oriented towards urban areas, leads to unequal access to services, particularly disadvantaging rural populations.
Disparities in accessibility to services are amplified in rural regions due to challenging terrain, limited road network, and poor road conditions become an additional challenge faced by the rural communities, which constitute 62 percent of the population.
Addressing these challenges requires strategic infrastructure investments aimed at enhancing the rural road network. Such evidence-based investments are crucial for bridging the gap and connecting marginalized communities to essential services and economic prospects.
Providing these investments can also be a step toward alleviating poverty, building human capital, and improving development outcomes. It is thus advantageous to be able to accurately evaluate accessibility in these rural and underserved regions so that gaps in accessibility can be identified, the assessment added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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