The 2010 floods: did we learn?

Agriculturalists of Pakistan were still recovering from the damages of 2010 floods when the news of another disaster spread panic among the people of Sindh. They had not yet forgotten the painful experiences and huge losses incurred four years ago. Just a week ago, in a study by Sustainable Development Policy Institute, I got to hear some horrific tales from the people of Sukkur, Shikarpur, and Jacobabad who survived the 2010 floods.

Four years is not a long time for a developing country like Pakistan to recover from natural disasters. The residents could recall their homes flooded with waist to neck high water as if it had happened yesterday. The flood this year is not too different from the floods of 2010 in the sense that it has come around the same time when the rice crops were about to be harvested. One could almost confuse it with deja vu except the fact that it actually did happen once before. The flood had ruined the crops and the fields causing huge losses to the farmers and workers putting them under huge debts. The respondents shared that barely 20 per cent of the losses have been recovered up till now.

As the relief work is underway with full throttle and the risk averse plans are being devised, it is important to look back and see how things operated back then, and what we have learnt and adopted to make better decisions now and in future. Among the three cities surveyed, Jacobabad and Shikarpur were the most affected by floodwaters. These cities were evacuated: some people took refuge in Sukkur, the city which was the closest, others went to Quetta, Hyderabad, Karachi, and different parts of Punjab. Just before the floods hit these areas, many opportune transporters took more than one lakh rupees in terms of cash, livestock, or gold from the local families to take them to a safe haven in place of the regular fare of about 20,000 rupees only. Of course, these were not the only opportunists. Once these families reached the relief camps, they spent days under the sky before getting a temporary shelter. Some of these families who did not have enough cash on their hands to demand a better treatment were given the option to sacrifice their women, whether for money or for sex.

A couple of months later when these poor souls returned to their homes they were approached by local NGOs and government officials for rehabilitation. Little did they know that these angels will only be able to provide them with hope instead of necessary aid. The IDPs who returned to their homes were issued ‘watan’ cards by the government, a step that begs commendation. However, the ground realities were a bit different. The beneficiaries received only one out of the three promised instalments. Some lucky ones got the second one too. The NGOs managed to provide basic food items, cutlery, and temporary shelter. In Jacobabad, humanitarian services of some NGOs were influenced by the big landlords, which eventually led NGOs to quit or they were blacklisted. There was minimal coordination between the private and government institutions which resulted in complete negligence of relief in some areas.

The officials believed that poor planning was the main issue behind the massive destruction caused by the 2010 floods. Even though the residents were informed about the floods, they did not take the message too seriously until the water was waist high in their homes. A local official in command said that they were taken off guard when the disaster management committee, which had a ready contingency plan A and a backup plan B, were faced with a plan C for which they were not prepared, a decision by the higher authorities.

We cannot fully prevent floods but with systematic planning and coordination the losses by floods can be reduced. It would help the affectees if they are informed about the locations of relief camps so that they can easily access the closest camps instead of selling all their valuables to pay transporters.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th, 2014.

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