Who will investigate the Ali Wahan story?

KARACHI: We are told that under the established procedure, the Ali Wahan bund was to be breached when water levels reached critical levels but this did not happen. Why was floodwater not diverted to canals, which remained dry while large parts of Sindh drowned? Why was  Section 144 not imposed on the embankment next to Hyderabad where hundreds of people converged for photo sessions despite the obvious risk this posed to the embankment itself? Are the figures of losses being given by the government correct, given that different officials are giving vastly different numbers?

These were some of the questions asked by members of the print and electronic media at an interactive session with the Sindh governor, Dr Ishrat ul Ebad, who said that he needed input from the media on the flood situation in Sindh. The session took place at Governor House on Saturday.

In his opening remarks, the governor said that he was dismayed by the poor public response to the tragedy and wanted to appeal through the media to people to come and share the burden. In his closing remarks, Governor Ebad told a questioner it was “obvious logic” that the situation would have been handled much better if the local government system had been in place. In the present scenario he said that the coordination was poor and people had no one to turn to for help.

In between, in a session that started one and a half hours late and lasted one hour in itself, members of the media had a lot to ask and comment on. The governor nodded and jotted down points. Many journalists questioned the validity of the numbers given out by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), others asked why it took so long for the governor to hold such a session and some more wondered why the Sindh chief minister had not bothered with such an exercise.

Dr Ishrat agreed with one journalist who pointed out that the mismanagement of arrangements for the flood survivors would leave a “deep psychological impact” from which they would not recover. Another highly-strung lady columnist shouted that the flood victims were in rags and that the gap between the rich and poor in Karachi was shameful. She hinted and civil unrest if the situation continued. She got a nod too.

Media personality Mehtab Rashdi said that the time right now was to help those sleeping under the open skies. She said that areas under water needed boats but they were not being provided. The work of the Sindh government came up for discussion time and again.  Journalist Yusuf Khan said that too much blame was being placed on the shoulders of the government when in fact there was little that could be done in the face of Pakistan’s worst flood disaster. The last question about the local bodies came from Kazi Sajjad Akber, to which the governor’s face lit up.

Many suggestions were given and much was noted down. Promises were also made of sending more suggestions on email. The governor ignored some suggestions - like that of setting up a commission of inquiry on the causes for the flooding. He appreciated others. At the end of the day, most questions remained unanswered as the governor promised another interaction in days to come.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2010.