Our preparations for the floods

Pakistan didn’t prepare much after the 2010 worst flooding as moderate rain spell caused a flood-like situation in the current season in some parts of Punjab, the most populous province of the country.

After a light rains, at least two major rivers of the province are in medium to high flood range.

As many as 13 villages of Sialkot have been inundated with corps over hundreds of acres destroyed.

The situation can be further worsened because the metrological department has forecasted heavy showers and thunderstorms for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and Punjab.

The question is that whether we are going to see a repeat of the devastating flood of 2010 and, third visitation for Sindh.

The flooding in 2010 was much devastated that had a national dimension in 2010 while Sindh suffered secondly when it inundated again in 2011. In some areas, the second flooding crossed limits of first one and did much destruction.

However, the authorities concerned apparently didn’t learn any lessons from the past experiences.

Although the federal and provincial governments completed their paper work, the situation on the ground is no different from the previous years.

The Sindh government has started registering volunteers and even set up flood relief centers but there was no planning to handle the situation in case of any emergency.

International watchdog agencies severely criticize Pakistan’s institutional capabilities to respond to natural calamities.

Oxfam released a research report claiming that Pakistan isn’t equipped for much smaller calamities for a country prone to natural disasters on a major scale.

Elaborating the reasons, it said, “Lack of coordination among government agencies, a below-standard flood warning and forecasting system, extensive deforestation, and failure to mobilize local communities are major causes”.

The most shocking aspect of the report is that a large number of those rendered homeless by the 2011 flooding have still not been resettled.

Moreover, some damaged embankments have not been repaired up till now, which is most dangerous feature of the sluggishness.

It is yet to be seen what arrangements the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has taken after the 2010 flooding when rivers over-spilled and canals breached embankments.

If a fresh flooding set of miseries on the nation, obviously, we will have to blame ourselves for entire scenario.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=31068

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Aug 20 2012. Filed under National, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.