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Flashfloods have created havoc throughout the northern areas of Pakistan. The death toll is rising fast and already touched 800, but final count may be even higher as many parts have lost links. It may be nearly after half a century that these areas have been hit so hard.
While the immediate need is to save people trapped but the mammoth task will be rehabilitation of the affected people. Pakistan may raise the SOS to attract the attention of international community to mobilise funds for immediate supply of food, medicines and shelter and subsequently for the rehabilitation of affected expected to run into millions.
As the gushing water moves towards southern Punjab and Sindh, it is likely to devastate standing crops, houses and inundate roads. Train service and road links are no longer dependable and passengers are stranded at different points. The real and difficult task is to save those who are directly exposed to harsh weather, flooding water and exhausting food and water supplies. Lower Punjab and upper Sindh face graver threat because fast-flowing water will spill over the river and canal embankments but breaches would spread the spurting water everywhere.
It may be true that downpour is exceptional this year but one can't resist from saying that appropriate arrangements were not made to face the eventualities. Lake created at Attabad got attention of the government only after media ran lengthy and repeated reports. While the probability is that the affectees must be facing even harsher conditions, focus of media has also been moved to flash floods.
Most of the devastation made by these floods were avoidable had timely measures were taken, people removed from areas likely to submerge apart from round the clock monitoring and surveillance of embankments.
The state of un-preparedness could be gauged from the fate of Jinnah hydel power plant and the workers involved in the construction of this vital project, a symbol of Pak-China friendship. Not only that one of the embankments had to be blown up to save Mianwali city and adjoining areas but gushing water also entered the plant and must have caused substantial damage. The extent of loss would only be known once flooding water recedes.
Irony of the fate is that after creating havoc, devastating standing crops and killing hundreds of people the unkind flood water will fall into the Arabian Sea. Till lately every one was talking about drought-like situation but now regretting that country didn't have channels to divert the flood water to the storage facilities, which we didn't built on the pretext that there was an acute shortage of water. The experts were also saying even if we build the storage facilities, where will the water come from?
One could only shed tears on the shortsightedness of Pakistan's policy makers. They neither have faith in the kindness of Mother Nature nor the raison d'être to prove that their point of view is right.
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