WHENEVER heavy rains lash the country, it always leaves behind trail of death and destruction. In fact such disasters have become an annual occurrence and showing an alarming increase in intensity but the regrettable part is that nothing has been done in the past to build the necessary infrastructure to minimize the losses.
This time around the rains have wreaked havoc in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province over the last four days killing at least 25 people and injured about 50 others. As many as 88 houses were damaged and 11 destroyed in the province. As more rains are anticipated in the next few days, therefore, the situation may go even worse, therefore, there is need to take the emergency steps by the relevant authorities especially the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to avoid more human losses. Then damages need to be calculated and we expect that the provincial government will be more forthcoming to provide necessary assistance to the people for the losses they incurred due to rains. There is need to take special care of the people of tribal districts as the mountainous terrain and the poorly constructed mud and stone houses make the community more vulnerable to disaster such as flash floods. Such disasters also badly affect their livelihood. Therefore, there is need to be extra-vigilant and the relevant authorities should work in cohesion and coordination to provide timely relief to the tribal people. As the country is faced with the higher risk of climate change, it has become all the more important to enhance the capacity of National Disaster Management Authority and the PDMAs in the provinces to deal with any calamity-like situation. They should be equipped with the latest machinery and gadgets so that they could immediately carry out rescue and relief operations. Most importantly, there is also need to build the necessary infrastructure to adapt to the adverse impact of changing weather patterns. Many deaths due to electrocution could be avoided by just underground laying of power cables. Then efforts need to be expedited to build small and big water reservoirs besides improving sewerage and sanitation systems.