The recent deluge in Sindh has hit the region at a time when Pakistan is still struggling to recover from last year’s flash flooding that wiped away a substantial part of the agricultural produce. The losses caused by this second consecutive year of flooding are initially estimated at Rs. 70 billion but keeping in view the continued onslaught the losses are likely to cross the Rs. 100 billion mark.
Vast areas of Sindh have been inundated and thousands of acres of crops have been washed away. Out of 23 district of Sindh, 16 are hit by the natural calamity. The banana, dates, chilli, cotton, rice and sugar cane crops have suffered a massive loss. So far 88 people have perished, 200,000 houses turned into debris and nearly 150,000 cattle heads are dead or missing. More than five million people have been displaced who are being taken care of by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Pakistan Army. The flood water may take 2 to 3 months to dry, after which NDMA will undertake a detailed survey of the flood affected areas to evaluate the intensity of the damage.
The heavy losses arising out of these floods are disastrous for an economy that is already facing many challenges including rising food prices, high inflation and increasing poverty. But the absence of a strategy to deal with natural disasters is more regrettable than the current losses. The NDMA is saying that they will wait for 2 to 3 months for the flood water to dry so that they may launch a survey of the effected areas to determine the damage. India, on the other hand, has a precise data of the flood prone areas having figures of the total agricultural land and details of the crops vulnerable to floods or affected by them. The most deplorable aspect of this year’s floods is that they did not hit overnight. Even though they were anticipated, no concrete efforts were undertaken by any agency to minimize the damage. People were left at the mercy of the cruel waves that took their way through the towns and villages indiscriminately. There was no system in place, just like last year, to give an early warning to the victims. The scenes of last year’s tragedy were replicated without an ounce of change. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) had assured earlier that they had activated their flood warning center (FWC) as the monsoon season was likely to kick off from the first week of July. It was predicted that the average rainfall during the monsoon season (July to September) would remain 10 percent below the normal levels in Sindh and Balochistan. Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) Chief Meteorologist Muhammad Riaz during a press interview had stated that the PMD had devised a system to inform and warn the departments concerned about the latest updates regarding floods. He had hoped that there would be no massive flooding this year. The Met chief had assured that the Met office had sent flood information and warning to more than 200 offices including district and provincial management, Water and Power Development Authority, national and provincial disaster management authorities, irrigation department and to the print and electronic media.
It is sad to note that all the assurances and forecasts of the Met office fell flat under the high tides that swept through the Sindh province without experiencing any serious resistance from the NDMA or Sindh government’s arrangements. It is true that Pakistan has been struck by 150 major natural disasters in the last 65 years, primarily caused by floods, earthquakes, cyclones and drought. But despite all these natural calamities, we have not been able to develop a flood early warning system. NDMA and other governmental agencies wait for the disaster to happen and once it has happened, they launch the relief operations to provide food to the displaced people. In this regard it would be appropriate to cite the example of India which has set up a system of crop insurance to save the farmers from the starvation resulting from the frequent floods, drought and pest attacks. Crop production depends on the vagaries of weather and prevention of attacks from pests. As the weather is extremely hard to predict even for top professionals and pests can attack anytime, it helps to have some crop insurance to secure the farmers from such loses. This insurance protects them from most eventualities like floods, droughts, crop diseases and attacks by pests. Let us have a look at the history of the crop insurance scheme of India that can be taken as a precedent to launch a similar project in Pakistan. An All-Risk Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme (CCIS) for major crops was introduced in 1985, coinciding with the introduction of the Seventh-Five-Year Plan. The National Agricultural Insurance Scheme or NAIS subsequently replaced it in 1999-2000. The NAIS was originally managed by the General Insurance Company. Later on, a new body called the Agriculture Insurance Company of India was formed to implement this scheme.
The National Agricultural Insurance Scheme is also known as the Rashtriya Krishi Bima. It is a comprehensive scheme that provides insurance coverage and financial support to farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crops as a result of natural calamities, pests and diseases. The scheme also encourages farmers to adopt progressive farming practices, high value inputs and modern technology. NAIS extends to all States and Union Territories. Other than the NAIS Scheme, the Agriculture Insurance Company of India is also involved in creating and executing other insurance schemes related to agriculture and allied subjects. Some of the similar schemes are the Varsha Bima and Coffee Insurance. We need to understand that the changing rainfall pattern in Pakistan renders the country highly vulnerable to floods. Some of the possible reasons include melting glaciers, increased rainfall intensity, rapid development and loss of forest cover. Millions of hectares of land roughly one-fourth of the country’s geographical area is prone to floods. Each year, floods cause extensive damage to life and property, losses being exacerbated by rapid population growth, unplanned development and unchecked environmental degradation. The country has been tackling the problem through structural and non-structural measures. While non-structural measures like flood forecasting aim at improving the preparedness to floods by seeking to keep people away from floodwaters, structural measures involve the construction of physical structures like embankments, dams, drainage channels, and reservoirs that prevent floodwaters from reaching potential damage centers. We need to reinforce our structural measures to provide a comprehensive protection to the people and to their property. But it does not mean that our non structural measures are working efficiently. We need to have a proactive flood early warning system to help save the people.
Our problem is that flood disasters make the news for a few days only. The actual fall out of floods are often run over by other current issues by media that is obviously in search of something new every day which results pushing the flood tragedies to the sidelines. Our policy makers need to be taught that the real life stories last substantially longer than the schedules of TV channels focusing on calamity hit areas. The post-flood issues like loss of life and property, injury and death, hunger and disease – then a slow and painful recovery hampered by personal trauma and depression, lost incomes and livelihoods, lack of protection or legal support are just some of the back-stage features of the cruel water menace. The most important aspect of the floods, like other disasters, is that the poor are often at the perishing end of the perilous events. When, as so often happens, disasters strike in already poor communities, there is another devastating loss – the loss of progress in development that pushes them a generation-behind in terms of social progress. An emergency strategy to minimize the loss of life and property in the flood hit areas is always considered as a damage control short term strategy. The countries with history of floods after repeated losses have secured themselves in one way or another to save their communities from the cruel jaws of death. Pakistan needs to take measures similar to the ones being taken by India.
