MONSOON rains have wreaked havoc across the country — especially KP and northern regions — by triggering deadly floods, landslides and displacement, particularly in vulnerable, poorly drained or densely populated areas.
The scale of the natural disaster can be gauged by the fact that flash flooding in the country’s northern areas on Friday left at least 222 people dead, with 210 lives lost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 12 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). As per data released by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), at least 507 people, including 159 children, have died and 768 others have been injured since June 26 in flash floods and torrential rains that have battered several parts of the country.
There is no doubt that federal and provincial governments are trying hard to carry out rescue and relief activities in the affected areas but these efforts are hampered by inclement weather and enormity of the challenge is evident from the tragic loss of a rescue helicopter in KP resulting in martyrdom of five crew members. As KP is facing the brunt of the climate-induced disaster, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has done well by promptly contacting Chief Minister of the province Ali Amin Gundapur and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi over telephone to discuss the situation and offer all possible support in mitigating woes of the affected people. He directed the NDMA to conduct comprehensive relief operations in flood-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, GB and Azad Kashmir in close coordination with respective governments and PDMA. The PM ordered immediate delivery of tents, medicines, food items and other relief materials to the KP Government besides prompt evacuation of the stranded people/tourists in the affected areas. As usual, Pakistan Army is in the forefront of the rescue and relief efforts in different parts of the KP and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has directed special measures for rehabilitation of those affected by incessant rains and flash floods. To set a precedent, the Pakistan Army has also donated one day’s salary from all personnel for the rehabilitation of flood victims in the province. In addition, the army has allocated its one-day ration — amounting to over 600 tonnes — for aid to those impacted by the disaster. Extra military contingents are being deployed to further support the relief operations in the worst-hit areas.
The Chief Minister has promptly released funds for compensation to the affected families to all the affected districts. However, it is a fact that there have been numerous complaints in the past about lack of transparency in the award of compensation and distribution of relief materials. This makes the role of local authorities and administration all the more important in honestly and diligently identifying the deserved families and promptly taking measures for relief and rehabilitation. Besides damaging houses and individual properties, rains and flash floods have also swept away portions of local, inter-district and inter-provincial roads as well as bridges. With this in view, repair and rehabilitation of roads and bridges should be a priority for the provincial and federal governments and their departments concerned. Damage assessment and rehabilitation plans should be in place on an emergent basis and necessary allocations should be made to the concerned institutions. It is appreciable that Field Marshal Munir has also issued special instructions to the Corps of Engineers to expedite the repair of damaged bridges. He further directed that temporary bridges should be installed wherever necessary to restore vital connectivity for affected communities. As communication assumes vital significance in ensuring prompt rescue and relief assistance, it is the duty of the cellular companies to work hard to restore mobile services. Seamless coordination in rescue, relief and rehabilitation phases will help mitigate sufferings of the affected people but it is all the more important to draw medium and long term strategies to prevent such tragedies in future by ensuring quality infrastructure and housing, timely action against encroachments and construction of water reservoirs.
