Floods in Pakistan; Global Warming or Man-Made Disaster?

Floods in Pakistan; Global Warming or Man-Made Disaster?

Pakistan is currently facing one of worst hit floods in the history of Pakistan. The floods have claimed over two thousand lives, demolishing of 1.5 million homes, mass spread of Malaria/Dengue disease, loss of over 5 million hectors of agriculture crops, damage of public service infrastructure such as police stations, schools, hospitals and other public service institutions. Total of around 40 districts in five regions has suffered. Flood has left long trails of destruction, deeper level of pain/suffering, joblessness, financial loss, diseases, and psychological trauma.

This article will objectively and carefully analyze the real causes and resulting impact in precise and concise manners. Root cause analysis will make things clearer and more non-nature addition to the disaster will become obvious.

The much-heard theory of global warming is of course one of the fundamental and core reason of this flood and cannot be over emphasized. However, there is little or no contribution of Pakistan or its people for unbalancing the nature or ruining its balance, but global environment has been brutally damaged by the western countries and some developed nations of Asia.

The very strange and indigestible behaviors of the leaders and decision makers of these countries is that they are totally turning a deaf ear to the global crime which they have committed to the mankind and globe itself, without any feeling of shame or taking any action for executing remedial measures to a problem founded and nurtured by the developed nations.

This ruthlessness is further fueled by those organizations who claim for and raise a lot of voices for environment, forestation, animal rights but neither have any respect or regard for human life. They love to save and are more concerned with a dog’s life than that of a human being!

All their freedom, respect for humanity, voices of justice, speaking truth on the facts suddenly vanish on the environmental crimes of these big powers. They choose to remain silent as after all they are getting heavy funding from the concerned quarters. So, the famous proverb of "MONEY MAKES THE MARE GO" can also be modified as "MONEY MAKES THE MOUTH SHUT". The global conscious is enjoying a comfortable /peaceful sleep with no clue of its awakening in next few years. But it is crystal clear that nature will seldom spare anyone and even some of these countries have started tasting the backfire of nature they fingered in the 20th century.

Apart from the sluggish global response to a global warming disaster let us see what has been done and how the flood crisis was handled by the bureaucracy of provincial and federal Organizations in Pakistan.

One of the core mismanagements was obvious from the bureaucracy of provincial and Federal departments that they did not learn anything from the floods of last years and other two major floods in previous two decades.

Apart from tactical or strategic planning absence, NDMA, PDMA and DDMA as well as other relevant departments even did not bother to think, plan and extrapolate the effects of one effected zone with the other.

The criminal level negligence of having no mitigation plan in case of monsoon flood for the current year exacerbated the problem . Furthermore, even after DG Khan was hit by the floods, it was crystal clear that Indus collective water will flow out of both the banks but still no preparation or forced evacuation was announced by the provincial government. Main organized authority at national level responsible for disaster planning and management, NDMA continued to remain unorganized since the earthquake day of 2005 without having any strategic reserves for any flood related emergency/disaster related resources in stocks. By the time the organization get ready for a broken response disasters already have performed the damages.

The worst flood hit province of Sindh's top leader was heard four months back saying, immediately, after resuming power at Federal level, “We will first harvest low hanging fruits" so the corrupt politician and their incompetent/dishonest bureaucracy was busy in harvesting the “low hanging fruits” for their temporary bosses with no clue of having any type of interest in their own job of caring and planning for the public.

Another masterpiece of carelessness and mismanagement was cutting of a lake bank in Sindh. We were listening to news on media about filling capacity of the lake that it can flow out any time and there is a need to make cut for reducing/saving the water from over spelling. While media was screaming and veering the situation of the lake concerned district, provincial and federal agencies management were turning deaf ears for evacuation plan around the lake, but they were busy in under the table cuts and kickbacks from the emerging “opportunities” of flood supplies requirements. After 4 days of media coverage, one day they suddenly decided to cut the lake bank without giving any advance notice to the masses. The People had to rush from their villages leaving their belonging behind to save their lives.

One important reason to water stay in different district was that many of the influential landlord illegally occupied land of the natural water causeways and artificially stopped the natural flow of water which created backlog and water flew out of both banks of various water cause ways in the province. ?Abundant factories of mosquito net are available in China with a very low price and in the absence of customs and other leviable exemption its urgent transportation was possible, and lives of many children could have been saved from Malaria with timely delivery of mosquito nets but there was an endless debate was going on as where to get the nets.

Another hero politician who is a master in gathering the mases collected 5 billion rupees from the public through his tele marathon but those 5 billion were also unseen or maybe droned in the deeper waterbed of Indus River and his claims to serve the flood affected children and women only remained in the air.

Fleet of Helicopters at sixth emergency aviation division of president house, helicopter of KPK Chief Minister, and the large fleets of armed forces were unable to rescue five young men in Hazara division of KPK province whose screams for hours, to get escape, went unheard to all the concerned decision makers who, if they wanted, could have saved the water surrounded persons with a mere 15 minutes flight from the head of states back yard.

I have just mentioned a very few facts out of the hundreds which has added to the miseries of the current flood disaster.

In summarizing the current floods prevalence and its management it is very comfortably concluded that the global warming played minor role whereas human mismanagement/ incompetence and dishonesty (both at national & international level) had a major role in deepening of the worst human and land crisis in the country. There will be no independent investigation and no culprit would be caught and punished in the national courts or at international court of justice for creating a disastrous globe.

Common people were already suffering before the floods and their suffering will continue with an increased level of hardship in their lives while only a few will enjoy their cake from the cuts they will gain from this disaster!

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