After the 2010 mega floods and heavy rains in 2011, this year once again the people of Sindh and Balochistan have faced disastrous monsoons and are still facing the aftermath in the shape of flooding that has brought in its wake death and misery. Almost the entire infra-structure in the rural areas has been ravaged.
According to the authorities, rains this year have been five times the normal, and 23 districts have been declared calamity-hit. Modern technology has made it simple for even the laypersons to check with a tap on their cellphones weather forecast for upcoming weeks and even months. The government, naturally, will have access to much more modern facilities, and yet it completely failed in planning for the impending disaster.
Whenever there is weather-related warning, governments find it convenient to ask people to take precautionary measures on their own, and to be ready to abandon their homes and livelihoods. Even this the governments do with a margin of hardly a couple of days. This surely is an attempt to pass on the responsibility rather than acting responsibly.
We all knew there will be heavy monsoon rains this year, but we waited for the disaster and when the time came, we focussed on divine intervention. The government did what it does every time a tragedy happens; collecting data in calamity-hit areas, and issuing press releases to the media.
People who have lost their loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods are advised to take shelter on embankments on a self-help basis. And then comes a helicopter with some VIP onboard who throws down relief packages because all this makes for effective social media posts.
As for the on-ground relief operations, like distribution of tents, shelters, food items and cash amount, hardly 10pc reaches the deserved.
The government should look into such issues; from preparedness to relief distribution. Immediate measures should be taken for proper rehabilitation of the affected people. Besides, the government should plan well ahead of monsoon. Steps should also be taken to improve the performance of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and its provincial versions.
ALI GUL LEGHARI
JOHI
