We are nowhere near ready
Nawaz Sharif has announced he would personally supervise the relief activity in the quake hit areas. The COAS too has expressed readiness to deal with the challenge. The commitment from both sides is praiseworthy. Both need to realise, however, that the horrendous after-effects of the natural disasters can be mitigated only by creating a civilian institution which works six days a week in preparing plans, proposing legal and regulatory structures, training manpower and conducting drills involving populations in potential disaster zones. Thus by the time the calamity falls, most of the work to lessen its impact would have already been done. The army is then called in only to do the work requiring heavy machinery and dropping of food and medicines from helicopters.
Japan is situated in a volcanic zone called the Pacific Ring of Fire. The measures taken by the earthquake authority have dented much of the effects of the tumblers despite their intensity. Four of the last five earthquakes were between 7.1 and 7.8 on the Richter scale. The fifth was 6.8. There were only nine casualties!
The performance of the PML-N in management of natural calamities has been poor. In 2010 the PPP government passed the National Disaster Management Law establishing a National Disaster Management Commission. Not a single meeting of the Commission has been held during the last two and a half years of the PML-N government. High rise buildings continue to be constructed without firefighting equipment and fire exits. Any big tumbler in Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad would thus lead to massive casualties before the arrival of the army.
Under the PML-N the army is called in to deal with floods, earthquakes, deteriorating law and order as well as in the conduct of elections. This is neither good for the government nor the army. While this erodes the common man’s confidence in the civilian administration, it removes the army’s focus on its real work and generates the thinking that if it has to do all these things, why shouldn’t it rule as well?