International conference: Changing disaster into opportunity

ISLAMABAD: The recent floods in Pakistan were an unconventional problem that needed unconventional solutions to be converted into an opportunity.

National University of Science and Technology’s (Nust) Rector Muhammad Asghar Khan stated this at an international conference titled “Floods 2010: A dialogue to transform devastation into opportunity” held at the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering  in Islamabad on Wednesday.

“The lessons learnt by this unprecedented calamity conclude that floods do not need to be grudged -- rather they need to be met with better preparedness,” said Khan.

Speakers at the conference emphasised the problems created by the floods and highlighted the windows of opportunity that were available to the nation in their aftermath.

They noted the floods led to a significant increase in the region’s water table, leading to improved fertility. The speakers underlined that if flood waters are properly stored in dams, small or large, they can be used for irrigation.

They also stressed that in the face of such calamities the nation needed to efficiently channel domestic resources instead of relying on foreign assistance.

Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairperson Javed Leghari said it is now the responsibility of political leadership, policymakers and academicians of the country to develop a comprehensive disaster management strategy to convert such occurrences into opportunities. There is a strong need to focus on research and curricula to handle such challenges in future, he added.

In the coming five years, he said, HEC will develop curriculums for universities to focus on building economies, communities and leadership.

“Pakistan cannot progress without converting 40 to 50 per cent of the population into middle class. For that we have to support and subsidise education,” he added.

Secretary Irrigation and Water, Rab Nawaz, stressed the need to establish a new drainage system
with enough capacity to cope with such disasters in the future.

Khan, rector of Nust, said that the country is facing multiple challenges created by a series of events like the 2010 floods, the earthquake in 2005 and manmade challenges like war on terrorism and widespread regional instability, all the while going through a huge demographic transition.

Khan said that Pakistan is increasingly becoming an urban society with a large portion of the population at the pinnacle of their age. He added, “If we want a demographic dividend, we need to lay a strong foundation in the next 15 to 20 years by investing in the people of Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2011.