It may seem counter-intuitive to begin planning for the next monsoon even before the present one is over, but the old attitude of considering the matter over and done with once the rains are over, can no longer be followed. This year, with 150 people killed so far, should show that prior preparation must be made to prevent loss of lives and destruction of infrastructure. One of the prime problems facing the country is that extreme weather events such as monsoonal flooding will remain at the present level of intensity, and indeed grow worse, in coming years because of global warming. Apart from the usual problems of flooding, urbanization is creating new problems. Residents of Karachi, for example, face the danger of not just electrocution, but of falling into manholes, whose covers are missing and rendered invisible by flooding.
One of the mains factors in this year’s lack of preparation was the absence of expertise. Instead of seeking professional heads for the federal and provincial disaster management authorities, the federal and provincial governments seem satisfied to have them headed by generalist administrators, whether from the civilian side or the military. The governments must concentrate on making these authorities repositories of expertise, especially technical expertise. If that means recruiting foreign experts at market salaries, then so be it. The extra expenditure will turn into money well spent when it is computed how lives were saved as a result, and how much infrastructure was saved.
There is a distressing tendency to treat these authorities as parking places for officials who cannot find a slot elsewhere. This has led to organizations which have made little effort to improve themselves, to acquire the sort of personnel who can take the country through the crises that will come upon it in the years to come. It seems to have been lost sight of, but the monsoons come every year, and thus preparations are never speculative, no matter how early they are begun, and always predictive. Not only do the monsoons come every year, but they are likely to become worse. Governments simply cannot wish away the problem, or spend eight or nine months of the year pretending it doesn’t exist.
