No prevention is possible without taking a radical view of the disaster and ascertaining its underlying causes.
COVENTRY, UK: This is with reference to Raza Rumi’s article of July 2 titled “Making the same mistakes this monsoon?”. A flood is not necessarily a disaster — it is normally considered a hazard and one that can be tackled with some good planning and use of preventive measures. It becomes a disaster when the planning is not there or is not able to adequately deal with the scope of water coming down in rivers and streams. Last year’s flood showed us that those people who have been neglected by the state in terms of non-provision of education, health and social protection are the most vulnerable and the most likely victims of natural disasters.
It is the condition of people prior to the onset of a particular natural calamity which more or less determines their vulnerability. No prevention is possible without taking a radical view of the disaster and ascertaining its underlying causes. The constitution of a flood commission or the distribution of relief and later rehabilitation of those affected is all well and good but the important question to ask is, has the government learnt any lessons? Has it has put in place mechanisms that prevent such disasters from happening again?
Muhammad Asghar
Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2011.
