Floods have caused havoc on a very large-scale; floodwaters have caused massive damage to infrastructure, including bridges, buildings, sewer systems, roadways and canals. According to some rough estimates, there are over 1500 dead in the wake of the floods and torrential rains that swept away hundreds of towns and villages in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The United Nations and the Red Cross have put the number of affected people at over 2.5 million. At present, Sindh has been faced with the threat of 'Super Flood' as water levels at River Indus barrages continue to rise. There are growing fears that flood will occur in River Indus when flow exceeds the capacity of river channel, particularly at bends or meanders.
Flood in this river has already wrought havoc at Taunsa and Mithonkot in Punjab in particular. At present, relief efforts are under way, efforts that are limited to ensuring supplies of food, water and shelter reach those affected by floods. There is a visible public disenchantment against government efforts - both at the provincial and federal level - however there is a consensus that the scale and extent of the relief efforts required is simply too much for any country to bear on its own, leave alone a severely cash-strapped country like Pakistan.
Relief efforts are immediate measures that have little to do with rehabilitating the victims in days to come which would require a needs' assessment that would assist in identifying the resources needed to repair the physical damage to public and private property. The question at this point is who has assisted the affected people in their time of need? The Prime Minister has set up a PM relief fund for the victims.
It is not clear if there is any money in that fund yet. Provincial chief ministers of the affected areas have been actively visiting the flood-affected people and damaged sites but they have neither the means nor indeed the capacity to ensure that relief efforts reach all the affected people. Their request to the federal government for support is unmet for the same reason: lack of resources at the federal level.
Meanwhile, National Disaster Management Authority (NMDA) is liaising with donor agencies and bilaterals, including United Nations Development Programme as well as the United States government, in disseminating relief goods to the affected people. NDMA has also been maintaining district-wise damage assessments and requesting assistance on its website.
At present, the request includes dried milk for children, high nutrition biscuits, dates, food packets including sugar, milk powder, vegetable oil and pulses as well as mineral water. Non-food items include mosquito nets, ORS, water purification tablets, candles, blankets, mattresses and cooking utensils.
This newspaper urges its readership to support this effort. Those who have been in the forefront of condemnation of US foreign policy must be reminded that US support for the relief effort was prompt and significant. The United States Embassy announced an initial contribution of $10 million in humanitarian assistance and indicated that it is prepared to earmark additional funds, if requested, while also hoping to boost Washington's image here. The UK, as always, matched the offer and announced a 5 million sterling pound support package.
Quoting some experts, a Reuters' Washington datelined report said the present disaster in Pakistan had given Obama administration a rare chance to help reverse negative opinion of the US role in the region, and was an effort to counter extremist attempts to take advantage of the chaos caused by the floods. However, it is highly important to note that a US expert on South Asia, Christine Fair, who has just returned to Washington from Pakistan, has urged Obama administration that it should just be doing it to help flood-affected people and not spin it.
According to Fair, when aid is seen as being instrumentalised, it undercuts the whole value of the assistance. Indeed, here is a valuable lesson for the US to be learnt from its approach to Pakistan floods. What must of course be a source of serious concern to those engaged in relief activities is that more rains are expected in affected areas and there is evidence to suggest that the situation is likely to worsen. As an immediate effect, floods will lead to epidemic and water-borne diseases. Besides, shortage of food crops can be caused due to loss of partial or entire harvest.
The country, public and private sector alike, needs to deal with this situation together and one hopes that the political parties play their due role in this regard. But most of all one would hope that the country's parliamentarians, both at the centre and in the province, share a tiny fraction of their wealth with the flood victims.