Last years flashfloods have dislocated millions of people besides causing large scale devastation in the province. The people have not yet been properly rehabilitated and there are some four months left for the expected new waves of the floods. This neglect is criminal and the government should work with whatever resources it does have rather than making excuses.
The governments officials are warning the masses about the expected flood by saying that the irrigation department has no resources to save people from the expected flood. On the other hand, the federal governments apathy is such that it has provided only Rs 2 billion for the flood affectees. The minister of the irrigation department himself is talking about his departments inability to face the upcoming expected flood. The consultant for the bunds and water expert Idrees Rajput also warns that the floods can hit the province anytime in the upcoming months. Not only should the people be aware of this impending problem, appropriate measures should be taken to avoid a tragedy of the proportions that befell us last year.
The apathy of the administration and the statement of the irrigation department that say that it will not be able to deal with the upcoming problems send out all the wrong signals. It demonstrates that the administration is incapable of helping the people and the people should deal with the upcoming failure on a self-help basis. If this is not a failure of the administration with regards to its duty towards its people, then what is? The rehabilitation process in the Sindh province indicates that the federal as well as provincial government was not ready to facilitate and rehabilitate the flood affectees.
Furthermore, when we talk about the rehabilitation of the flood-hit people, it should not be forgotten that the rehabilitation process is interlinked with the upcoming census. The pertinent question here is that how will the people who are not in their native town due to being displaced by the floods be registered in the census process. Even though, the two issues are inter-linked, Speaker Sindh Assembly has said that the rehabilitation of flood-hit people is not possible till census.
If the rehabilitation is not possible, then the government should at least chalk out a comprehensive mechanism to get the flood affectees involved and registered in the census. Daily Kawish
Translated from the original Sindhi by Aftab Channa