Murree redux

It has been nearly two months since the Murree tragedy in which 22 stranded tourists lost their lives during heavy snowfall on January 8. There has been no major action apart from the suspension of some officials who were blamed for their inaction and negligence of duties. The Lahore High Court (LHC) is hearing a petition about an ‘overconfident’ tweet by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry about tourist influx in Murree just a day before the tragedy claimed so many lives. The petition in the LHC is seeking an independent and proper investigation into the Murree tragedy because the previous committee formed to probe the tragedy failed to produce a credible report.

It is also noteworthy that at the time of the tragedy the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) was working without any director general. Those who fail to make such significant appointments must also be accountable for their lax attitude. Essentially it is a matter of timely preparations that the local and provincial authorities failed to make. Such preparedness plays a crucial role in disaster management – especially when such heavy snowfall was forecast much in advance by the meteorological department. Neither the minister responsible nor the authorities concerned paid much heed to the warnings.

When any such emergency situation arises you can’t just blame the local people for not helping the stranded, it is the entire government machinery that must take the blame. Vehicles that should have been deployed for snow removal were standing still at one place while people were stuck on roads. In no civilised society can such incidents be brushed aside the way this government has been trying to do. There were multiple tiers of management that collectively failed to perform their duties. Just suspensions will not do the trick for the government, there should be much more serious probes and even more serious actions to prevent such tragedies in the future. What we need from the state is to place the lives of the people at the forefront of all decision-making and governance matters. While the dead are gone and will be mourned by their loved ones forever, it is essential that SOPs are developed and then implemented so that never in the future is this allowed to happen to families who just wanted some respite from their daily routines.