The Senate on Tuesday decried the absence of an effective warning, monitoring and crisis management system, leading to several deaths and colossal loss to property and standing crops due to floods in different parts of the country.
The lawmakers from both sides of the aisle were of the view that there is an urgent need to rush relief aid and compensation to the victims of the natural calamity. Opposition senators assailed the Federal Flood Commission for not timely cautioning against the floods.
"Today Karachi presents the scene of Venice but with the civil amenities' infrastructure in a shambles," alleged Opposition Leader Senator Raza Rabbani, presenting a bleak picture of the port city and asking the government to declare Mardan, Charsadda and Karachi calamity-hit localities.
The treasury and opposition senators gave vent to their shock over the flood-caused devastation and called for a better Centre-provinces co-ordination to deal with natural calamities, as the House took up two identical adjournment motions by the opposition after the question hour was over.
Awami National Party Senator Asfandyar Wali and Abdul Rahim Mandokhail of Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party moved the motions.
The opposition senators again castigated the ministers for not showing up and State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamil Ali Agha's explanation that he was representing the ministers, as they had to attend a parliamentary meeting at the Prime Minister House, could not cool down their tempers.
Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Senator Professor Mohammad Said pointed out that 16 out of 24 NWFP districts were badly affected by the floods, claiming more than 144 lives and the number of injured ran in thousands and countless people were rendered homeless.
He contended there was a need to prepare use of land and building codes to minimise such tragedy in future and a greater co-ordination between the Federal Flood Commission and its branches in the provinces. The senator dubbed the performance of the Meteorological Department as very poor and advocated for the establishment of a National Institute of Natural Disasters.
He completed his speech after the Maghrib prayer break, when the House resumed business with a delay of 20 minutes.
Asfandyar, who opened the debate, drew the Chairman Senate Mohammadmian Soomro's attention towards the vacant seats of ministers and wanted to know," was it of any use to speak on the most burning issue?"
Both sides, he said, were required to work for the relief and rehabilitation of the flood victims, rising above the political divide. The chair rushed a staff member to the lobbies and some ministers came to the House, after finding no minister to take notes.
Senator Raza Rabbani said that the federating units alone could not cope with the situation and the Centre should play a pro-active role in alleviating sufferings of the people.
Referring to media reports, he said that associations of industries in Karachi had given an ultimatum to the government for restoration of smooth power supply, as they failed to meet export targets, resulting in billions of rupees' losses.
He maintained that KESC had failed to improve the power supply despite its privatisation and the government was sheltering it. The senator pointed out that not only a scheduled meeting of the Standing Committee on Wapda was cancelled last month, but also it was not requisitioned despite they had filed an application for the purpose.
The ruling PML Senator Nisar A Memon said that the moot point is, were the Federal and provincial governments prepared to face the natural disaster.
He proposed that some senators should visit the affected areas and assess the damage and report back to the House with recommendations.
Maulana Gul Naseeb of MMA believed that a strict check on construction of houses, huts and shops along the rivers and nullahs and availability of required machinery could help control damage.
He recalled that scores of people had gathered around the collapsed Margallah Towers to lend a helping hand, but could do little unless some heavy machinery was made available, exposing the administration's negligence.
The senator from NWFP complained that in many areas, people were still stranded and desperately looking for help, food and potable water. Bibi Yasmeen Shah, a ruling PML lawmaker, proposed that the first priority should always be to rescue the trapped people and through holding open kuctheries, problems of the people be promptly resolved. MMA's Senator Professor Khurshid Ahmed expressed dissatisfaction over the FFC's performance and charged that the government had not learnt from the last year's earthquake.
"Monitoring, planning and capacity building is key to handling natural disasters. Iran and Turkey learnt their lessons and have put in place effective mechanisms," he pointed out.
He lamented that the government should put its priorities in realistic perspective and instead of construction of a new general headquarters, we should focus on real issues concerning the common man.
Meanwhile, the House offered fateha for the departed souls of mothers of MNA Maulana M Khan Sherani and former minister Aftab Shabaan Mirani.
The House will now reconvene in the afternoon on Wednesday.
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