When the rains come falling

And drown Punjab every year

With heavy rain breaking a ten year record in Lahore, and more showers expected across the province over the next few days, khadim e aala’s provincial machinery is about to be put to a very stern test. One would assume, considering the billions spent on ‘infrastructure development’ (not to mention difficult rains are more or less an annual certainty), that it would be easier to get a handle of the situation this time. Yet in the first two days about 20 people have lost their lives in Lahore, and approximately 40 in different parts of the province. And considering how most cities are flooded, movement will remain restricted, especially if the coming days turn out worse than anticipated – which has been known to happen.

As much as some sections of the society have been all for the chief minister’s flyovers-and-underpasses drive, it does seem that a more crucial type of infrastructure development has been overlooked by the authority. Now, as people’s miseries multiply and the local economy locks up, perhaps the wisdom behind fixing structural problems, like managing the rainy season, will find greater currency in the CM’s secretariat. If cities are flooded every time it rains, roofs collapse, people get electrocuted, and the economy suffers, surely there is a very clear vacuum begging for space in the annual development plan (ADP).

The immediate concern is, of course, meeting the emergency. And regardless of who should have prepared contingency plans or why none were in place (nothing notable, at least), all stakeholders must join hands to deal with the challenge. Nobody needs reminding that those who have lost family members just because it rained should be compensated in whatever way possible. And it must be ensured that such tragedies are not repeated. Prudence dictates that fancy roads and mega projects should take precedence only when more pressing problems are addressed. But so far such thinking has eluded our masters and khadims alike.