The devastating deluge has struck the country yet again. This year it has ferociously hit major parts of the Punjab killing hundreds, destroying hundreds and thousands of acres of cultivable land and crops, devouring large number of cattle, and ruthlessly raising down hundreds of houses belonging to the flood-stricken, downtrodden people living in the affected areas to the ground.
The present extremely heartrending scenario may, as always, have moved the sentiments of all and sundry genuinely sympathetic towards such nerve wrecking occurrences, but this is nothing new for them. Deluge of such magnitude or even worse have occurred in this country in the not so distant past. As a matter of fact devastating floods such as the one that has hit Punjab today has become a perpetual problem for particularly the deprived segment of our society living in the rural areas.
What truly hurts and what is extremely unfortunate is that those at the helm of affairs in this country, and are responsible for devising effective ways and means to control such catastrophes, seem to be the least concerned. Evidently, no effort whatsoever has been made by them to plan and implement strategies to control the perpetual menace of floods that come and cause massive destruction to the lives and properties of the poor. Needless to say, it also causes mammoth losses in economic terms.
The popular adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ is what is needed to be followed in letter and spirit to deal with the situation effectively. If those who claim to be the benefactors of the downtrodden of this country continue to be callous in dealing with such menacingly critical national issues, the poor masses are bound to face devastation of even greater magnitude, caused by floods in the years ahead.
M FAZAL ELAHI
Lahore
