KARACHI:
Torrential rains that caused flash floods became a calamity for the entire nation not because of some superstitious curse, as was the talk of town and on social media, but was mainly aggravated due to mismanagement and maladministration. The monsoon may have become seemingly weak but the floods resulting from the melting glaciers are still a cause of serious concern, especially in the K-P province.
The horrendous aftereffects of this year’s monsoon rains are unimaginable. Hundreds of towns and thousands of villages have been inundated with flood water. Millions of people are rendered homeless and over 1,300 have died. People are compelled to live in hunger, health issued have multiplied, millions of acres of standing crops have been completely ravaged, infrastructural damages is estimated at Rs2,00 billion — all while government officials offer meager remedial measures and hollow promises.
Social media is full with hearth wrenching hues and cries of devastated people and the tall claims of the government about rescuing people and distributing relief have been rendered futile. International institutions and countries throughout the world have helped generously, but it is a shame that our political and bureaucratic systems inherently work in a corrupt manner.
Zain-ul-Abidin
Larkan
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2022.
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