KARACHI:
If a mine falls, an earthquake occurs or crops are destroyed due to rains or lack of it, it can be treated as punishment from the nature. But if rainwater is not drained out for days and sewers remain blocked, it is sheer mismanagement. It is a punishment for electing leaders who are corrupt and who gobble up the money earmarked for civic management. Also, we have failed to build water storage reservoirs in these times of flooding. We have for long been unable to build consensus on building Kalabagh Dam so much so that the project seems to have been discarded altogether. One must say that flooding due to our failure to repair dams or build new ones is no natural calamity.
Cherrapunji region in northeastern India received up to 2600 mm of rain, but it did not causing flooding. In contrast, Sindh got flooded only from 200 mm rain. If we want to avoid such troubles in the future, we must elect our representatives on merit — those who have the capability to manage affairs and run them smoothly.
Awais Ahmed Kalwar
Ghotki
Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2022.
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