- Scenarios that could easily take place in Pakistan
In December 2004, a massive tsunami caused the death of 62,000 people in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. If even one of these countries had had a viable warning system and an evacuation plan, these deaths could have been prevented, but they did not. A few years prior to 2004, a meteorologist in Thailand had warned of such a disaster. He recommended that all new hotels should be set back from the beach and be provided with sirens in case of an expected event. Instead of taking his suggestions seriously, he was moved away from his position and his suggestions were not implemented, just as people who take a stand are dealt with in Pakistan.
The Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal was built in 1969, in a densely populated area. In 1984 MIC, a lethal gas leaked from one of its tanks and exploded, killing at least 3,800 people immediately, leaving another 150,000 persons disabled. Eventually the death toll went up to 20,000, and the city still has a high rate of spontaneous abortions. After the explosion the facility was simply abandoned, and children still play on the poisoned ground, as children all over Pakistan play in trash dumps.
This tragedy took place for reasons that were entirely preventable. Some pressure gauges were missing, some malfunctioning, and in ways that are so familiar to anyone who has lived in Pakistan, the operators ignored the readings on the gauges that worked. Before the explosion, when the control room filled with gas, the operators might have been able to do something to save the situation. But they had no oxygen masks, so they had to run for their lives. None of the safety systems worked, and the number of persons in the work and maintenance crews had been cut down and was insufficient anyway. Parts were missing and had not been replaced, cooling systems had been shut off to save money. Warning systems, where available, failed to work, and some sirens had been turned off to prevent the inconvenience of false alarms. The people working at the plant were ill-trained, and several of the instructions were written in English, when the people were able to read Hindi only. A familiar scenario.
Chernobyl in Russia in 1986 became a synonym for nuclear tragedy, but there was another nuclear facility at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, US, that fell just short of Chernobyl
Chernobyl in Russia in 1986 became a synonym for nuclear tragedy, but there was another nuclear facility at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, US, that fell just short of Chernobyl. Safety systems did not kick in at Pennsylvania either, but operators took measures at the last minute and prevented disaster. In the meantime, thousands of people fled the area amid general hysteria.
The residents of Chernobyl were not as lucky. Kiev was demanding more powers. Workers, under pressure, ignored warnings, made mistakes, and used a less experienced team to run crucial tests. The reactor exploded less than a minute after a test had begun. Millions of people had to be evacuated, and over the years thousands died of thyroid cancer, a direct consequence of the explosion. Farmland became unusable, and birth defects stemming from radioactivity are still high. The pollution spread as far as Wales, Scandinavia and Germany. It will take about two hundred years to counteract the ill-effects on the environment.
These are only some examples from around the world. There are thousands more that could easily take place in Pakistan, God forbid, because Pakistan, too, possesses several commercial nuclear plants and chemical factories, and the level of management in Pakistan is as abysmal. As for tsunamis, a few years ago a newspaper reported that ‘Four years after a tsunami left some 150,000 people dead or missing in South Asia, Karachi remains at risk of killer waves due to a lack of coordination between the district, provincial and national disaster management authorities, even though the meteorological department has implemented a land-based tsunami early warning system.’
No surprises there.
Four nuclear power plants are operational in Pakistan and construction has begun on two more in Sindh, due to be completed by 2020. Pakistan has long had contracts with China for cooperation in nuclear technology. In 2020 a further two Chinese nuclear reactors are due for completion in Muzaffargarh. The site is currently being prepared. Which brings one to CPEC.
Given our experience with the East India Company, CPEC makes one wince in discomfort. Whether or not that feeling is justified is still to be seen. But with or without CPEC, the people and government of Pakistan have proved to be their own worst enemies. Mind-boggling mismanagement at the Pakistan Steel Mills and the national airline come to mind, although mismanagement exists everywhere, at every level. It remains that PIA are no longer great people to fly with, which believe it or not, they once were.
Education in this country stresses ill-considered shortcuts with no rational backing, rather than understanding and judicious planning, making Pakistan a country not to be trusted with nuclear power plants or chemical factories for now.
Unless the focus of the people of this country can be raised from the mere ability to exist, unless a system of accountability makes it a punishable offence to ignore safety procedures and take dangerous shortcuts, and unless that accountability is enforced, Pakistan will remain incapable of handling dangerous facilities that require meticulous maintenance and training of personnel. Time and again it all comes back to education and poverty, the lack of the first and the all-pervasive existence of the latter.
