As the monsoon season is building up in intensity, apprehensions for a repeat of the catastrophic flood which drowned the country last year are increasing with every rain drop. It doesn't help either when a report released by Oxfam to mark one year since the devastating deluge occurred, highlights the gross inadequacies of the government to tackle the emergency this year.
"Ready or Not: Pakistan's resilience to disasters one year on from the floods", the Oxfam report has raised some critical issues regarding the rehabilitation process of last year's flood survivors. Admittedly, this year the Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecasted a decrease of 10 percent in rainfall. However, as Oxfam's report demonstrates, the slow pace of rehabilitation of affected people and reconstruction of dykes along the riverbanks has left millions of people vulnerable to fresh flooding. The UN and Pakistani authorities have predicted that even with lower than average rainfall, two to five million people will be affected by the resultant flooding.
According to Oxfam's report, around 37,000 people who were displaced during last year's floods are still living in camps in Sindh alone. Additionally, more than 800,000 of those families which have returned are still without proper homes. Many of these families are left at nature's mercy since "flood defences, such as river embankments, destroyed in last year's floods, have not yet been properly repaired." The federal and provincial governments have been busy making tall promises that they are making sure the work on all the dykes and bunds are completed before the monsoon season arrives, they are still struggling to finish the work as of late-July. In addition to the slow pace of work, in some areas, like Sindh, loans granted by donors haven't been completely distributed, adversely affecting the repairing process. Aside from that, some reports suggest that bunds in Sindh, the worst affected area, are being raised only two to three feet instead of the recommended six feet.
Struggling to help its populace rebuild their lives in flood-affected areas, Pakistan can ill-afford another catastrophe which will further compound the country and its people's miseries. The government's policy of disaster management for this monsoon's expected floods remains unclear and Oxfam's report duly underlines this problem. The National Disaster Management Act 2010 gives a disaster management framework starting from the federal level down to the district level. However, the report highlights that the responsibilities of various government departments affect disaster management since they "work in parallel, with overlapping mandates and varying degrees of co-ordination." Adding to this, it was only on 23rd June 2011 - merely a week before monsoon officially began in Pakistan - that Prime Minister Gilani called the first-ever meeting to access country's preparedness against floods this year. Though concrete directives were given, such as strengthening the district disaster management authorities and even replicating their structure at the tehsil level in high-risk areas, their timing raised apprehensions about their effectiveness and implementation.
Oxfam report gives concrete suggestions which must be highlighted. The most important recommendation is to ensure pre-emptive measures, which will help reducing the impact of future disasters. Oxfam report suggests construction of flood resistant housing and developing an effective early warning system. It must be pertinent to note that the Met department is currently equipped to give warning only four days in advance, and their radar system is unable to cover a considerable portion of the country.
Oxfam's report also called for provision of funds at grassroots level where the local organisations have direct access to local communities and can respond more efficiently and immediately to emergencies. The report also suggested that government should implement the World Bank and ADB's recommendations to invest the initial 27 million dollars to strengthen disaster management capabilities. The government must consider this option otherwise they will have to bear the economic burden of an immense proportion, much similar to last year when the economy was stunted by 2 percent due to floods. Ultimately, the need of the hour is to take pre-emptive steps to reduce future catastrophes. It is evident that the government is sincere in its efforts to streamline its policy to ensure minimal damage this year, the progress has been slow due to delays in initiation. It is imperative that the government takes the nation in confidence over its flood management planning and develop a strategy to ensure inclusivity of the masses to synchronise with official efforts. It will boost the people's confidence in their representatives, will give them a sense of security and inculcate a sense of responsibility. It is only by adopting such a holistic approach that we can hope to avert a sequel to the 2010 disaster.
Source: Business Recorder (27 July 2011)
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