Floods and the invisible spillover

Decentralising flood relief activities on a govt level can act as a disincentive for the govt to exploit disasters

These are the worst floods to have hit Punjab since 1972, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif recently said in a statement to the press. The provincial government and the bureaucracy have been directed to work round-the-cloud to provide relief efforts.

Pakistan has been experiencing recurring floods in various parts of the country since 2007. The region has become a hotbed for debates surrounding climate change, natural disasters, and the political and economic impacts of flood management. The statement about these being the worst floods since 2007 thus holds different meanings for the various stakeholders.

Natural disasters occur in a political space. These occurrences can be used to redistribute resources to favour certain constituencies. As government spending is diverted from law and order to relief efforts, other areas become vulnerable to terrorist attacks by militant actors. Relief efforts become subject to income inequality at the global level as developed countries pour funds into least developed ones.

The 2010-2011 floods provide an interesting case study in terms of understanding global relief efforts and lack of preventative steps taken by the present government.  International aid serves as a kind of a bailout for governments in such cases. These bailouts are unconditional and the worse the calamity, the greater a government’s ability to receive funds.  Because of negligible decentralisation of flood relief management in Pakistan, the government can get away with taking palliative instead of preventive measures.

This could serve as a disincentive for governments to take steps to manage rivers or flood plains ahead of the floods. It is the quarters that pour in aid that must realise that free aid could also be used for disaster prevention. This could be a means to award ‘non-disasters’ or effective preventive measures.

Decentralising flood relief activities on a government level can act as a disincentive for the government to exploit these disasters for greater funds.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 14^th, 2014.