Inadequacy and neglect

A spate of recent disasters, and the fear of looming threats in the future, has compelled more attention to the need to try and manage disasters. International agencies, as well as national governments, in disaster-prone countries like our own, now acknowledge the need for better disaster preparedness. However, the situation on the ground is still far less than desirable, given the evident plight of multitudes, anytime that there is a new flood or a drought. There are however varying factors due to which post-disaster relief and reconstruction aid does not reach out to those most in need of it. Besides the lethargic and reactionary attitude of existing entities meant to cope with disaster, or even allegations of nepotism or corruption, there are other important reasons why scarce aid resources often remain confined to helping those who have some level of socio-political influence, rather than reaching out to vulnerable population in most desperate need. Infrastructure related hurdles, for example, can pose a major challenge to aid reaching poorer segments of society. The World Risk Report 2016 has also drawn attention to how logistics and infrastructure related problems compound the misery of already vulnerable populations within a post-disaster context. Using analysis of floods, typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis and other natural disasters from around the world, the report shows how countries with decrepit infrastructure and logistics systems are at greater risk of extreme natural events becoming major humanitarian disasters.

Lack of access poses major challenges in terms of reaching victims of disaster, and providing them immediate medical and humanitarian relief. Infrastructure is also needed to deal with longer term reconstruction needs, roads for instance are needed to get building supplies into the right places. The series of floods in our own country are a case in point. As authorities struggled to reach remote areas after the havoc caused by the floods, many inaccessible areas, where poor and marginalised communities often reside, remained left without any humanitarian assistance. Given that natural disaster events have increased and intensified, our government and its donors would do well by investing in better logistics and infrastructure systems. Such efforts would not only save lives but also billions of dollars which are spent trying to reach remoter populations. However, before this assertion redoubles the zeal of our policy makers to focus on launching another grandiose motorway or series of underpasses or flyovers, it must be noted that the real need here is create multiple points of access spread across different parts of a country, rather than focusing on particularly constituencies, or devoting energies or scare resources on grandiose schemes such as multiple lane highways. If any given road is blocked due to a disaster, the point is to have alternative options in place to reach different localities.

Countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh have begun looking at designing and implementing disaster-resilient infrastructure systems, taking into particular account flood patterns over the past few years and projections for the next 20 years. One wonders if such considerations are also discussed when our Prime Minister or his brother decide to embark on another road building venture. According to World Bank estimates, trillions of dollars need to be spent in low and middle-income countries to establish an adequate level of infrastructure which can be used to effectively reach out to different segments of the population in times of need. However, besides providing the World Bank another opportunity to lend money to governments in infrastructure-poor countries, which will in turn pass it on to their favourite contractors, the above requirement can also provide humanitarian and non-profit organisations an opportunity to engage in participatory development. Such entities can help devise projects involving remote and neglected local communities to build paved or even unpaved roads which helps make them more accessible.

Simple cash for work schemes to build, widen, or create alternative road networks for previously inaccessible communities would go a long way in not only enabling relief and rehabilitation aid to reach these communities in times of disaster, but also to help link them with other essential services, such as markets, hospitals and educational facilities.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2016.

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