Flash floods 2013: Life swept away

Rebuilding life post floods seems an impossible challenge for the underprivileged.

ISLAMABAD:

Rain may have brought joy to some. But as one of the 100,209 Pakistanis whose lives have suffered at the hands of the 2013 floods, for Mehr Nigar rains spelt nothing but devastation. She lost all her savings and assets thanks to the monsoon.

“On that Ramazan morning, it was raining heavily. I was getting ready to prepare sehri when I suddenly heard a thumping sound. Next I saw all of my belongings falling into the nala. I screamed for help and quickly ran to save my son who was sleeping,” said Nigar, the trauma still fresh.

Headline after headline about the devastation caused by floods is seen, but each stricken person’s story is a story of loss of stability and belonging, like this resident of Noori Bagh Mohalla which is located on the bank of Bari Imam nala. Ironically, it is just a few kilometers away from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

For a family who saves every penny to buy the basics, losing assets like jewelry, clothes, fridge, television, bedding and the very roof over their head is a huge loss.

“All I am left with is my 16 year old son and a charpai on which we both spent nights under the open sky,” said Nigar while eating stale bread with half-cooked potato peels which she gathered from the neighbourhood. Her slippers, feet and hem of her shalwar were stained with mud. Her son Danish who is mentally ill, did not have enough clothes on him to cover his body. Nigar’s husband is suffering from physical disability and is under treatment in Gujranwala. Her husband’s pension is the only source of income.



Nigar had spent the rest of Ramazan mostly getting food from the nearby Langar. “On Eid I boiled potatoes and kept on eating the same for days. The clothes I am wearing now were given to me by one of my relatives who came from Peshawar,” she said.

“I am helpless because I am poor. There is no one who could feel my pain and help me rebuild my room or get back what I have lost,” she said. Nigar, via The Express Tribune, appealed to the government and philanthropists for financial assistance.

Just like her, other families residing in her neighborhood have also lost their belongings in the flash floods. There is no electricity in the area since last Monday.

“During heavy rains, the army and rescue officials helped people in the city area but no one came here to assist us. Even the media covered only urban areas and not places where poor people like us live,” said Razia, a disgruntled neighbour of Nigar.

More to come

Talking to The Express Tribune, the Director General Pakistan Meteorological Department, Arif Mahmood said that the monsoon season will come to an end within two days. However the rains will continue till the second week of September.

He said on August 19 and 20, high floods are expected at the Guddu and Sukkur barrages when around 625,000 cusecs of water will be passing through them.

He said that in the next 48 hours scattered rainfall and thundershowers with isolated heavy falls are expected in Northeast Punjab which includes Gujranwala, Lahore divisions and Kashmir. Isolated rain and thundershower are also expected in Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Islamabad/Rawalpindi, Hazara divisions and Gilgit-Baltistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2013.