With the monsoon starting earlier this year, fears regarding floods that are already being expressed are by no means unjustified. There are, in fact, already reports of the first installment of floods in river Indus having hit areas in DG Khan leading to the flooding of several villages and the consequent damage to crops and the displacement of local population. The damage has been increased by flash flooding caused by hill torrents.
It was quite natural to hope that with the experience of the last year’s devastating floods still fresh in memory, the administration would have done all that is necessary to ward of the ill consequences of high floods. The embankments of the rivers would have been repaired, restoration work undertaken and fool proof arrangements for dealing with emergencies put in place. What reportedly was told at an inter-provincial meeting in Islamabad however does not inspire confidence. The meeting was informed that restoration work remained incomplete in all the four provinces, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, though provinces and areas badly hit by the floods last year remained the most neglected. Even in Punjab, which had the highest rating vis-à-vis performance, enough remained still to be done. The enquiry report commission report regarding the breach in Tori dyke ordered by the Supreme Court has held important engineering and irrigation officials responsible. This however does not exonerate those who exercise the overall supervision. Any natural disaster that could have otherwise been averted is bound to take political toll. There is a need under the circumstances for the political leadership to get its act together.
In the urban centres of Punjab, particularly Lahore, the government has put up a better performance in dealing with the after-effects of the monsoon rains. But any lack of vigilance in the interior of the province is bound to lead to crop losses affecting the whole county and economic hardships for the local population. What is more, it is bound to highlight regional imbalances and complaints of neglect by an insensitive administration in Lahore.
