Managing the floods

Pakistan is particularly prone to natural disasters of every type — with flooding the pre-eminent among them. It is one of the countries at the top of the ratings for being negatively affected by global warming, and with Himalayan glacier melt coupled with abnormally high levels of precipitation in the north of the country the plains are particularly vulnerable. Floods cannot be prevented, but they can be prepared for and to a limited extent managed. This requires a national effort as every province is affected, some more so than others.

It is lack of preparedness along with a failure in many instances to implement — or even plan — countervailing measures that raises the human and material toll when floods occur. Thus it is that we welcome the approval by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) of Rs177.6 billion for the National Flood Protection Plan Phase IV. Of this, 50 per cent will be provided by the federal government and the rest in a pooling arrangement agreed between the provincial governments. Also to be welcomed is the planning that is for a decade hence, and which will span several governments all of which must commit to seeing the project through.

The Federal Flood Commission estimates that the aggregated damage caused by the floods of the last six years is equivalent to all the damage caused in the previous 60 years. This can only get worse not better. Millions are affected every time there is a major flood, and some lands remain saturated for years making run-off impossible or protracted and they are lost to farming. Between 2014 and 2016, 1,026 people died in floods linked to the monsoon which is now but weeks away. Financial allocation is all very well but what is needed now is a timely implementation of the planned for measures, and this is not the time for rivalries and petty politicking to play out.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2017.

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