Sindh Resilience Project encounters delays

Launched in 2016 with the support of the World Bank, the Sindh Resilience Project had aimed to reduce the risk and impact of floods and droughts in the province by increasing the capacity of relevant institutions to deal with natural disasters. The project, costing 202 million US dollars, was to be completed in 2021 however, till date the project remains in limbo.

A total of 31 schemes were to be completed under the said project however, only 13 schemes were completed by 2024, while work on 15 others has not even started. Reportedly, the reason behind the delay in the project is a lack of proper planning and negligence in the implementation of the project. The institutions established to deal with natural disasters, the Rehabilitation Department, Sindh, and the Pakistan Disaster Management Authority, Sindh, focus more on relief activities after natural disasters, instead of disaster prevention.

District Disaster Management Authorities are working in the districts of the province under the leadership of the respective Deputy Commissioner, but no separate setup of these District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMAs) has been established yet. This is the reason why separate accounts of DDMAs have not been opened in the respective districts, due to which the huge amount spent on the Sindh Resilience Project has not served its true purpose as most of it was used on rehabilitation works after natural disasters.

According to the report of the Auditor General of Pakistan, the Pakistan Disaster Management Authority Sindh spent a large part of this money providing flour, sugar and other food items to the flood and drought affected people alongside helping in their relocation.

This is in spite of the fact that this money was given by the World Bank to reduce the risks and impacts associated with natural disasters. This is one reason why natural disasters continue to risk lives in the province.

According to Naseer Memon, an environmentalist and social worker, the risk of floods looms over Sindh. "The uncertainty of hydro-meteorological disasters is increasing due to changing weather patterns. There has been 50 per cent less rainfall than usual during the last five months. Therefore, the province is at risk of drought in the early days of summer, while Sindh will also face a shortage of agricultural water during the kharif crop season. If there is snowfall in the northern hilly areas during the coming two months, there are chances of improvement in the water level in the Indus River after June.

Although the exact flood situation in the Indus River will be known by April, emergency arrangements will have to be made in Sindh in light of past experience," said Memon.

According to Member of Sindh Assembly and Parliamentary Secretary for Relief and Rehabilitation Muhammad Ismail Rahu, work has been done to reduce the risks and effects of floods and droughts in Sindh. "The risk of natural disasters has increased due to climate change globally. It will take time to reduce the effects of floods and droughts in our country," said Rahu.