Daily Times

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani should blame himself for poor rescue and relief measures for those affected by recent snowfall and rainstorms in the province, instead of expressing his displeasure at federal government departments for leaving “Balochistan alone”. Alyani came up with the unusual outburst at a meeting that reviewed relief and rescue operations in the province, where he is reported to have said that officials and departments, “including the federal secretary energy, National Highway Authority chairman, National Disaster Management Authority chairman and Sui Southern Gas Company managing director, completely ignored Balochistan”. The chief minister did not explain how their presence in the province would have impacted the level of relief work. No doubt Baluchistan has been ignored for decades and it is the most under-developed province of Pakistan, but that is hardly a black-and-white matter. Also, with the passage of 18th Amendment, the mine-and-mineral-rich province had a landmark opportunity to utilise its resources. Under the first National Finance Commission Award of the PPP government, Balochistan was generously compensated with a large share of receivables.

It is time for the province to start working on its rescue, relief and rehabilitation mechanism for future calamities. In the past two decades, the province has faced a barrage of floods, earthquakes, droughts and snowfall. The water-starved region faced floods in 2007, earthquake in 2013 and snowfall and flooding in 2020. Every calamity left a trail of deaths, destruction and displacement. The recent flooding has demolished 20,000 houses in south Balochistan. It was left to local heroes to rescue stranded people. Many of them have become social media heroes now. Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the province must be given projects to deal with natural calamities. Side by side, the provincial government must be pushed to improve its capacity to tackle disasters. *