Disaster appraisal

Although Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a relief package for the flood victims and is actively soliciting aid from abroad, the delivery mechanism for this aid remains ambiguous. Which items will be prioritized and how much will be allocated for each affectee? Will this be decided on a needs basis or will each of the displaced persons or families receive the same amount?

Furthermore, it is unclear, even in ballpark terms, how much aid is needed, given that there have not been any detailed assessments of the damage and displacement. This task is complicated by the fact that the floods are not yet over, so the toll of the disaster is set to keep growing. Nevertheless, we must commence a proper assessment of the scale of the damage and formulate a detailed plan for aid distribution. This will allow relief efforts to run more smoothly.

Fawad Hussain Samo

Hyderabad