And the nexus of the powerful and the corrupt
Devastating floods were one of the ‘package’ plagues unleashed on ancient Egypt to coerce the Pharaoh into releasing the Israelites from slavery and permitting their return to Zion. Perhaps it was an earlier example of their later hugely successful lobbying prowess. Flooding was an especially potent weapon. It caused widespread suffering and destruction in its wake, especially among poor peasants and tillers. It caused unemployment, food shortages, inflation and what the wise rulers of any age dread most of all, social and economic unrest. In China, it is said, the reigning Emperor’s charisma and ‘heaven-born’ status suffered a severe blow when large scale floods ravaged the Middle Kingdom in the olden days. The Egyptian floods were deliberate vengeful visitations from above which the Pharaoh was powerless to prevent and the Chinese version largely the result of the mighty Yangtze, the third largest river in the world after the Nile and the Amazon.
In our own case, the annual raging torrents are a result of Mother Nature in an unforgiving mood (also innocently and lightly termed as global warming or climate change) as well as human bungling and greed. It can be said of the latter: never have so few inflicted so much suffering on so many for so long…
Global warming and its ruinous consequences can hardly be downplayed. Anatol Lieven in his sympathetic and well-researched book, Pakistan: A Hard Country, has pinpointed climate change as the leading threat to the long-term stability of the country
Global warming and its ruinous consequences can hardly be downplayed. Anatol Lieven in his sympathetic and well-researched book, Pakistan: A Hard Country, has pinpointed climate change as the leading threat to the long-term stability of the country. The widespread floods of 2010 badly damaged state and ecological systems, infrastructure and agriculture, caused dislocation of millions and loss of livelihoods. Their rehabilitation after each flood occurrence poses a major threat. And the worst is yet to come. The real effects of climate change will only be felt in their full fury in Pakistan after another fifty years!
Coming to the human element, the blame lies partly on president-general Pervez Musharraf who was ideally suited to build the Black Dam during his ten years in power, or at least a (watered down?) version of it in some other colour, but the otherwise brash commando completely evaded this life-and-death issue of the country. The secondary offenders are the ‘political hat-trick’ rulers, who instead of building dams and dykes, nonchalantly waste the state’s precious resources on misplaced projects such as Metro buses, signal-free corridors and elevated expressways. What happens in southern Punjab every year during the flood season is not their forte. Their vision is limited to changing Lahore and its vicinity (for the worst it seems) and their other haunt, the capital city. If there were dams, even small ones, strategically constructed near the vulnerable riverine areas, the victims would be spared the annual horrors of dislocation, the loss of their crops and limited possessions, and the rest of the nation would not have to witness those familiar tragic scenes of poor, uprooted people wallowing about helplessly in the raging waters, waiting for relief which only comes belatedly.
But beyond all these stand even more sinister and ruthless actors. These are the ones who might not actually pray for this ancient plague to descend on the land, but benefit mightily from its coming all the same. It appears that even a catastrophe like raging flood waters has become a lucrative industry for some, tax-free too in the bargain. Talk of a flood mafia! It could only happen here: this would indeed be Franz Kafka’s Promised Land, his ideal understanding of Hell. The nexus of the powerful and the corrupt makes money by devious ways even as their unfortunate countrymen struggle to survive amid the misery of the deluge.
The self-serving so-called ‘people’s’ representatives, the feudal landlords and other local bigwigs, the concerned ministers and specially appointed officials for floods, the administrative machinery comprising the District Coordination Officers, the high-ups of the infamous Irrigation Department, the Chief Engineers of the Dams and Barrages, rogue NGOs and of course the Contractors are, in varying degrees of responsibility (or corruption), ultimately responsible for the lack of a prompt and meaningful response on the ground (or waters) when a national flood emergency arises. Meeting in comfortable government Rest Houses, they are an ‘Old Boy Network’ usually under the sway of the local elected politicians in power, who are in turn the local big landlords, who are in turn… In a word, powerful local vested interests trump all other considerations any time. It is left to the army to undertake timely relief and rescue missions of the marooned and starving compatriots.
It is said that the flood situation is sometimes falsely exaggerated by these elements to coax more money out of the government and from the international donors
It is said that the flood situation is sometimes falsely exaggerated by these elements to coax more money out of the government and from the international donors. At other times they conspire to save a big landlord’s standing crops by blasting a protecting dyke and diverting the waters towards some lesser and voiceless habitation. No prizes for guessing in whose pockets the funds intended for the latter end up in! Then again the local bigwigs may start fighting amongst themselves regarding the site of a dyke or spur, of course to ensure maximum protection of their own lands and property. The all-important vested-interest angle again. So the vital work of protection dykes never gets done, leaving the community exposed and vulnerable.
Rajanpur district in the extreme south-west Punjab is much in the news nowadays due to the flood ravages being caused in the low-lying riverine areas by the flooding of the Indus. Rajanpur is always in the flood news for three reasons: the converged Panjnad river flows into it at Kot Mithan, hill torrents from the Koh-e-Suleman range cause flash floods during the monsoon season in its west while the swollen Indus river ravages its three tehsils mercilessly every year. It is indeed in the raging torrents’ crosshairs and line of fire. Even so, the all-important Extension Minchin Flood Bund, which could provide some semblance of security to Rajanpur, has since 2011 fallen prey to internal bigwig bickering (not to talk of the traditional Punjab-Sindh water rivalry) about its alignment with Guddu Barrage, as its original, officially approved, direct alignment would allegedly threaten the lands of some powerful local politicians.
