Given the biblical proportions of the flood now ravaging the country, it may be unrealistic, at least for the present, to get bogged down in apportioning culpability as to why so easily the dykes gave in and bridges were washed away. We should accept that it is Nature's fury that has struck with unprecedented ferocity, like the 2005 earthquake, or the 1970 cyclone which devastated the erstwhile East Pakistan - though with dissimilar fallouts.
How we respond to this challenge would have critical consequences; while the earthquake strengthened national unity, the cyclone rent asunder the country, as the then president, General Yahya Khan, rejected local leadership's pleadings to stay on to oversee rescue and relief work. Therefore, in the very beginning of this write-up, we would like to acknowledge the fact that a calamity of this scale has the latent potential to fritter away unity of mind and action. May be, some are better equipped than others and deliver more effectively, but this disparity should not be seen as a lack of will and determination and thus allowed to undermine the cause of national unity.
As the country weathers the third spell of the monsoon, there is no indication yet that rains are going to stop soon. While the flood is reaching the Kotri Barrage, fresh rains have struck again as far in the north as Gilgit-Baltistan, triggering landslides, flash floods in the mountainous regions and widespread inundations in the plains of south Punjab and Sindh. But the worst affected is the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which, according to Chief Minister Hoti, has been pushed back 50 years. Over 1600 have been killed and some 12 million people have been displaced, losing their homes and hearths to swollen rivers and streams, while others lost their farms, orchards and businesses.
But at present, crucial is the timely rescue of thousands of marooned people and providing them food and medicine to sustain their lives. How to cope with such an apocalyptic destruction is the challenge before the people and the leadership. The task being too enormous to be handled by the civilian governments, the armed forces are fully involved, primarily in the rescue work, with the help of helicopters, boats and all other possible means. Not only this, the troops are ferrying food to the marooned from their own rations. No wonder then, rain or shine for the people of Pakistan, the armed forces are the ultimate hope.
No doubt a disaster of the size that Pakistan is confronted with, has important economic and financial implications. Given the war-like situation, there is not much available in the government kitty even for routine social development. But now, even that little money would be required to be diverted to restore the damaged and destroyed infrastructure and for the people's relief and rehabilitation - at the risk of starving the social sectors, which in turn, is a sure recipe for street agitation. On its own, Pakistan cannot rebuild its infrastructure and rehabilitate its 12 million flood-affected without foreign help and assistance. So far, the international response is not very encouraging, with UN special envoy for disaster management, Jean-Martin, arguing that procuring foreign aid could be difficult, given the global economic downturn.
However, there is a positive aspect to this issue - in that the people of Pakistan, by nature and disposition are givers, more so now at the advent of holy month of Ramazan. Already, a variety of NGOs and charitable organisations are engaged in feeding the marooned people. They may be mobilised to help restore schools, clinics and such other public-service utilities, as the government is preoccupied with the rehabilitation of infrastructure. But an area, deserving an equally sympathetic attention, is the agricultural sector. According to a UN report, some 1.4 million acres of crops have been destroyed in Punjab alone, while the losses in Sindh can be even more staggering.
Since the affected areas in south of Punjab and Upper and Central Sindh are mainly feudal fiefdoms, it is a tragic possibility that the poor farmers are not heard at all or are short-changed by their local leaders. So, the government needs to plan moves to recover from the flood and its aftermath intelligently and realistically, rising above political considerations and involving the motivated private sector humanitarian outfits. Merely setting up the Prime Minister Relief Fund is not enough, as you might have noticed by its low visibility so far.
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