Civil society voices concern over ‘mismanagement’ of relief operation

Civil society activists, human rights defenders and volunteers at a webinar, organised by The Knowledge Forum on Monday on the flood situation in Sindh, expressed concerns over “an extreme chaos, lack of preparedness, minimal rescue efforts and a missing plan of action” on the part of the provincial government to deal with one of the worst floods in its history.

Speakers were unanimous in observing that the current figures quoted in the official data do not represent the accurate picture of the devastation on the ground, as the scale of the disaster is vast and there is also minimal effort to ascertain the ground situation.

The webinar was titled “Assessing Provincial Picture of Flooding in Pakistan -- Dispatches from Sindh”. Dr Sono Khangharani, a development expert, Radha Bheel, a member of the Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network, Akram Khaskheli, president of the Hari Welfare Association, and Jan Odhano from the Community Development Foundation, were the speakers at the panel.

Other speakers included Dr Riaz Shaikh, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST), Uzma Noorani of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, senior journalist Shahzeb Jilani, Muhammad Yaqoob of Takhliq Foundation, and Yasir Hussain from Darya Lab.

“The situation in most of the areas is very serious as a large number of people have been affected due to prolonged rains and floods,” speakers said, adding that people are suffering due to the unavailability of relief and rescue efforts on the part of the government. Due to policies on NGOs and INGOs of the previous government, a large number of international donors had left Pakistan and local NGOs had no resources, they added.

Due to the destruction of infrastructure and roads and railway networks, access to many affected areas was difficult and a large portion of the affected population was devoid of relief, one of the speakers said.

Dr Somo Khangharani said that it is premature to determine the extent of the losses due to the floods. Even though in some districts there were fewer showers as compared to the rains in 2010, the damage was much more because there were continuous rains in those districts which damaged almost all katcha houses. He said there was mismanagement on the part of the government departments and there was no effective control of the state apparatus over the situation.

He people were already poor but this natural calamity had affected their economic situation. People in rural areas are selling their livestock at throw-away prices to get some cash, he added.

Jan Odhano from the Qambar-Shahdadkot district pointed out that his district is the worst affected area as it is receiving rainwater floods from three sides of Balochistan and South Punjab. Rainwaters from the hills of Balochistan, Katchi Canal, Pat Feeder canal, and the riverine from Koh-e-Suleman are directly hitting Shahdadkot areas, while a saline water drain, Hairdeen, has inundated most of the areas.

Akram Khaskheli from the Nawabshah district said Nawabshad, Sanghar, and Naushehro Feroz districts have been affected due to breaches in the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LOBD), which is a major drainage canal on the left side of the Indus.

He said agriculture of the entire provide has been destroyed and there is fear of food shortages as all crops of vegetables have been damaged. He said that besides agriculture, livestock has been destroyed as a large number of animals have died by drowning.

Radha Bheel said the lower caste minority population, which is mostly associated with agriculture, has suffered huge economic losses. The government has neglected them in relief and rescue efforts. She said women and children are the worst sufferers of this calamity.

Zulfiqar Shah, a member of the Sindh Human Rights Commission, pointed out that the NDMA and the PDMA have failed to provide timely warnings to people. There should be a high-level investigation to find out the man-made component of the flooding.

He said the actual disaster would unfold once the water receded. There will be food shortages and hunger all over the country, he added .