The day the earthquake shook the wits out of almost everybody in the country, the confusion was natural. The colossal destruction caused by the earthquake couldn't have been fathomed by anybody in the first couple of days because it was spread over 12 districts of the country.
And as nature is always more unkind to the dispossessed, this disaster took a heavier toll in the underdeveloped areas. Many of the affected areas in these districts are quite inaccessible even in normal times.
In the absence of any effective disaster management organisation and crisis management plan, whatever the civil society, the government and international community have done so far is commendable.
President Musharraf has now laid down some broad outlines of the plan for the rehabilitation of the earthquake victims. He has maintained that the government has prepared a multifaceted plan and an implementation strategy to meet the challenge posed by the earthquake.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had also talked about the salient features of the government's strategy. The government, it seems, is quite clear that its first job was of rescue, the phase which is now almost over. Second, the most urgent task now is to provide some type of temporary shelter to the people who have lost their houses to an angry earth.
Given the fact that earthquake-affected districts get harsh winter it is also important that these temporary shelters should be able to provide some protection from the vagaries of the weather.
Third, as most of the victims are poor and have lost the means of their livelihood, they have to be provided with food till at least coming summer. Fourth, the injured and ailing people have to be provided medical care.
Last but not the least the fifth priority is to plan and rebuild the towns and villages, which have been flattened by the earthquake. The government has established an Earthquake Rehabilitation & Reconstruction Authority (ERRA) under Lieutenant General Muhammad Zubair.
The President has praised him for repairing the Sukkur Barrage and is talking about pre-fabricated housing for the earthquake-affected areas. Here the government should look at other more effective and less expensive options also as the task ahead is of a different nature and much bigger proportions.
According to one estimate, which most experts accept, the government is faced with the mammoth task of re-constructing over half a million houses that were destroyed on 8/10. This is no small assignment.
The average annual construction of new houses in the country is around 300,000 only, while the requirement is 570,000 houses. And here we are not talking about the six million housing units backlog. As it is the industry, which produces construction material, is already stretched. The demand has pushed up the prices in the last two years.
In these extra-ordinary circumstances, the government should not be led away by the lobbies, which want big contracts and large projects in the traditional style of big business. The solution to this problem lies elsewhere - in thinking out-of-the-box. The need is to involve the local communities of the earthquake-affected areas in the rebuilding process.
Most houses that existed in the 12 unfortunate districts were built by the owners with the help of the local masons and in many cases with local labour. The best approach would be to enlist the support of the local communities and help them in rebuilding their houses.
This would also give the local population jobs on the spot. Their involvement in normal work activities would also be the best therapy to help them come out from their state of trauma. Work indeed is the great healer of wounds inflicted by the death of the loved ones.
To motivate the local communities, the government should form committees of local leaders, NGOs who have experience of working on similar projects at the grass roots level, and administration officials. These people should be quickly trained in rebuilding procedures and management and guiding the people in constructing earthquake resistant structures.
According to a study in India, buildings can be made to withstand vibrations with just 2-4% additional cost. Such techniques should be acquired immediately.
To bring the construction cost down, the government should again employ the local population in removing the rubble of the earthquake. The local committees should be provided necessary gear and tools for removing and separating such construction material from the debris, which can be reused for the reconstruction.
The experts have roughly estimated that almost Rs 150 billion would be needed to rebuild around 500,000 houses. This does not include the cost of schools, hospitals and other infrastructure facilities. While the government is trying to take a fresh look at the budget, it is important that it should not cut back on the already starved social sector.
Instead it should slash all non-development expenditure and defence should not be a sacred cow. At the same time, the government should think of exempting the construction material industry from excise and sales tax if the material is directly sold to the ERRA for the earthquake region.
To raise money for this gigantic task the government has moved quite quickly, which its critics will have to concede. In a short span of three weeks, there has been one donors meeting in Geneva and the next meeting is planned in Islamabad on November 19, while a commitment of a billion dollars is in the bag. True, the response so far has been much short of the need in spite of fervent appeals by the UN. It seems that the world has not been able to comprehend the level of disaster caused by the earthquake.
This is apparent from the waning interest of the foreign media. The government has to undertake a massive communication campaign in the countries, which have the means to help us in these difficult times. It would be only achieved if the people of the target country are moved, and not just by diplomatic efforts at the governmental level. Advertisements alone won't go far, as they lack credibility.
In conclusion, the government would be best advised to realise that such a major crisis can only be handled if the solutions are worked out from within a community and are not imposed from the top. All decisions have to be made and implemented collectively. And the best forum for this would be a parliamentary bipartisan committee, as suggested by the Prime Minister. At this juncture the opposition should take him on his words without politicking anymore.