Pakistan, July 6 -- The monsoon has barely settled over Pakistan, and already the country is being handed its bill. According to the National Disaster Management Authority, rain-related incidents have already killed at least 17 people and injured more than 40, mostly through roof and wall collapses, lightning strikes and similar tragedies that are too easily blamed on the weather, when they often expose deeper failures of local preparedness and unsafe construction. More rains and storms are now expected in Azad Kashmir, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Potohar and northeastern Punjab.

This is why the latest round of meetings in Islamabad must be judged not by the seriousness of their press release but by the speed of their execution....