Pakistan is being swept away by a nasty flood not experienced in the Chenab for over three decades. The raging waters have wreaked havoc in the areas they have passed and are expected to inflict heavy devastation on property, infrastructure and standing crops further south in the country before the unharnessed water flows into the Arabian Sea. The scenes of flooding seen on live television send a chill through the spines of the bravest when witnessing the fury of the unrestrained tides. Buildings are uprooted like match boxes in a vicious windstorm with the inhabitants and their hard earned belongings being tossed around like match sticks. This mammoth disaster unleashed by Mother Nature only proves that it is beyond human power even in most developed nations to completely offset the destructive effects of natural calamities. However, their destructive potential can be reduced with proper planning and preparedness.
Japan faces high magnitude earthquakes every now and then, resulting in loss of human life and destruction of infrastructure and homesteads so common in the countryside. The time line of impending earthquakes cannot be forecast with any degree of certainty so perpetual readiness to meet the event is the only safe bet. Japanese governments have managed to generate a certain degree of confidence among citizens through institutional measures, civil defence training and stringent safety rules regulating construction so that, in the event of such an eventuality, the impact of devastation will be minimal. China is another example where forces of nature like earthquakes and raging floods are regular phenomena but their destructive effects have been reduced through suitable measures like those instituted in Japan.
Pakistan lies in the centre of the tectonic plates of the subcontinent and Eurasia. This geological location renders it vulnerable to massive earthquakes like the one that struck in 2005. Besides sitting on tectonic fault lines, Pakistan is also susceptible to heavy floods owing to its geography and river system. The Federal Flood Commission (FFC) was established under the ministry of water and power in 1977 following the appalling obliteration of infrastructure and unparalleled loss of human life and livestock in the 1973 and 1976 floods. The FFC records show that, since its inception, the commission planned and executed several projects of Rs 87.8 billion to reduce the destructive potential of floods. However, the reality is far from these claims owing to the incompetence of staff and rampant corruption.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department, citing a NASA study, issued warnings in 2010 that flash flooding could occur in the northern areas and urban areas down south due to unprecedented monsoons resulting from Hurricane Nina, a weather phenomenon accentuated by global warming. It seems that warning fell on deaf ears and no significant measures were instituted to ameliorate the situation to meet the forecast natural disaster. Extremely heavy rains fall in the monsoon season. The heaviest rains were in 2010, caused by a cloud burst that inundated the entire province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, inflicting hitherto unprecedented damage to crops, property and infrastructure besides the heavy toll on human life.
The floods now raging through Punjab after wreaking havoc in Kashmir are making their way through Punjab and are heading towards Sindh. This is a telltale event of incompetence and criminal negligence at all levels of government. The unending photo sessions showing disaster management and rehabilitation activities are aimed at blinding the citizens of Pakistan to the unforgiveable callousness on the part of the government. Successive democratically elected governments have shown a complete inability to manage natural disasters and the internally displaced persons (IDPs) resulting from them. All these citizens are left to the mercy of nature under an open sky without access to food, drinking water and medicine. Can our elected representatives justify the faith put in them by the common voter? Should they not face punitive action for ignoring their responsibility before the next general election?
Pakistanis are highly tolerant people according to various studies and are ‘fairly happy’ despite the inhuman living conditions of a majority of the population. However, our leaders must understand that there is a limit to tolerance and happiness. The telltale signs of increasing street crimes, acts of terrorism and family suicides must be heeded by the governing elite before the volcano erupts into complete anarchy. Not only this, the government must review its priorities and solutions must be visible to the common citizen. We must not develop bullet trains, motorways and industrial zones if they cannot be saved from the wrath of natural disasters. There is no point in making underpasses and flyovers in urban areas if the excess water resulting from heavy rains cannot be drained. We need proper drainage systems in urban areas and well planned projects to harness water from monsoon rains in the mountains and prairies before this priceless resource is lost to the sea.
Politicians are supposed to serve common citizens and the governments formed by them through an electoral process are morally bound to address the plight of the common man in order to ameliorate the conditions of poverty, joblessness and absence of healthcare and education facilities. But the scenes of dharna (sit-in) politics getting round the clock televised coverage today shows the complete apathy of the political elite towards the predicament of those living below the poverty line. They are fighting only to get into the chairs of power.
Let us not be pessimistic. This chaos does hold the promise of awakening the masses against injustice and corruption.
The writer is a flying and training military executive