Managing spring rains

The spring rains caused by westerly weather system are not unusual in Pakistan. And it is also not unusual that they cause a lot of losses and damage. They unleash torrential downpours, trigger avalanches and flooding and sometimes also usher in harsh winter weather. In some cases, the collateral hailstorms seriously damage the wheat crop. Its spell in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa last week alone caused about 30 deaths and damaged more than 200 houses, and there is the forecast for more rains in northern Balochistan and central and upper parts of the country in the coming days. Year after year, the people witness the hill torrents adding to the human misery by flooding vast areas in downstream plains. The government agencies tasked to take effective measures to minimize the losses do announce their estimates of losses caused by the spring rains, but nothing in concrete terms as follow-up until comes another spell of spring rains. Provincial Damage Management Authority has not gone beyond a few cosmetics like distribution of mats and tents in affected areas of KP. As we watch PDMA's optics we also painfully recall that the national disaster management has failed to restore normality even after 15 years in the earthquake-hit areas of Azad Kashmir and KP. This bureaucratic culture of cosmetics in dealing with natural calamities is no more excusable. The cosmetics must give way to a workable plan and prompt follow-up measures to deal with the calamity caused by the present spell of spring rains. The conceived plan should be three-pronged - to forewarn people in areas likely to be affected by rains; to be in position to promptly reach the calamity-hit areas with relief goods; and to tame hill torrents by deepening their channels. And, as for the damage caused by strong winds and hailstorms to wheat crop the government must make up for the loss suffered by the farmers.