Flood Crisis

Introduction

Causes
 Climate change and failure of forest management system
 Failure of the meteorological department
 Failure of the national disaster management system
 Dams and political reasons

Effects and challenges

 Death toll of close to 2,000
o The number of casualties in KP is by far greater than any other province as most of the people were caught unaware
in their sleep when flash floods inundated villages and towns in a matter of few hours.
 Agricultural loss
o According to preliminary estimates, the losses suffered just in agriculture amounts to Rs 35 billion, with crops of
rice, sugarcane and maize being affected the most. Charsadda, Nowshehra, D.I. Khan and Malakand have been hit
the hardest. (submerged 17 million acres (69,000 km2) of Pakistan's most fertile crop land)
 Infrastructure loss
o In the days of militancy, Swat saw almost 400 schools bombed by the hands of extremists. This time the floods have
left 69 schools damaged in the area.
o Damaged an estimated 2,433 miles of highway and 3,508 miles of railway
o The power infrastructure of Pakistan also took a severe blow from the floods, which damaged 10,000 transmission
lines and transformers, feeders and power houses
 Economic loss
o The GDP growth rate of 4% prior to the floods may turn negative with the estimates ranging from -2% to -5% of
GDP. Though the GDP growth may improve in 2011 and beyond, it will be several years before it can return to the
4% level of 2009. As a result, Pakistan is unlikely to meet the IMF's target budget deficit cap of 5.1% of GDP, and
the existing $55 billion of external debt is set to grow
o Officials have estimated the total economic impact to be as much as 43 billion USD
 Outbreaks of diseases
o World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe water
 Political, military and social consequences
o Political effects due to public perception of governance inefficacies
o Where under-resourced rescue and relief work of agencies has highlighted the weaknesses in governance, it has also
presented another alarming danger to society. We are talking here about a province which has already been affected
by militancy and extremism owing to the space provided by poor governance.
o Diverted Pakistani military forces from fighting and advantage to Taliban
o Members of Pakistan's Ahmadiyya Muslim community, who were caught up in floods in Muzaffargarh, were not
rescued from their homes (Sikhs also and protests)

Response
 Types of responses
o Response is classified into “Relief / Early Recovery Phase” (2-3 weeks) and “Rehabilitation”
 Government and media response
o The magnitude of the disaster was not able to merit the response it deserved. The government was slow to respond
and the media was busy giving time to frivolous activities. Apparently, the floods in Balochistan, which had killed
80 in one week and affected over 60,000 people, went unnoticed as media pundits were busy analyzing the various
conspiracy theories behind the Margalla plane crash. It reaffirmed that the class to which people belong and the
place where deaths occur do matter when air time to be given is decided for any tragedy.
 Pakistan military response
o Fully mobilized
o Pakistan Armed Forces Personnel have donated their one day salary for their flood affected brethren.
o 60,000 Army troops are employed in Rescue and Relief Operations
o Over 100 Army Relief Camps are working across the country.
o All available C-130 Planes have been dedicated for Relief Operations.
o Army's veterinary mobile teams are vaccinating animals
 o Over 300 Army doctors are providing treatment to a number of patients

 NDMA
o Five years ago, a massive-earthquake rocked Pakistan. Later, several institutions such as the National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA) were set up to deal with natural calamities. In the last five years, as the recent
floods indicate, the state has done little to galvanize and decentralize disaster preparedness and management.
Between 2005 and 2010, the magnitude of natural disasters was not large enough to expose the inherent weaknesses
of the emergency infrastructure.
 Civic activism and volunteerism
o As before, Pakistanis have come forward and an unprecedented civic activism and volunteerism can be seen in
reaching out to victims of the floods across the country.
 NGOs
o Among the Muslim aid groups busy in flood relief operations prominent are Jamaat-ud-Dawah, Al Rasheed Trust,
Al-Khidmat Foundation, Al-Akhtar Trust, Edhi foundation, WWF and over a dozen smaller ones.
 International donors
o UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had initially asked for $460 million for emergency relief
o Only 20% of the relief funds requested had been received as of 15 August 2010
o US embassy in Pakistan had provided several helicopters
o More than $800 million has been donated or pledged to help Pakistan’s flood victims. (USA=$102, Saudia=$65.3,
UK=$64.76, EU, Australia, Norway, Japan etc)

What should be done now?

 Strengthen local capacities
o In these circumstances, the urgent requirement for the provincial governments is to set up local government systems.
KP and Balochistan have already passed laws, which despite their limitations, set out the framework. Punjab is
considering various options and in Sindh – where the devastation has been colossal – political battles confound the
need for sound local governance structures. After the passage of the 18th amendment, the provinces have no further
excuse to stymie the local government agenda. This cannot be delayed as the governance vacuum at the local level is
a ripe field for the non-state actors of the Islamist variety to assume control.
 Local adaptation plans
o It is also imperative that local climate change adaptation plans are devised through the local governments with
adequate capacities.
 Distant MDGs
o Our lagging social and economic indicators should now be the top-most priority. We are vulnerable because we are
not investing enough in achieving the MDGs. The sanitation crisis in the aftermath of the disaster has exposed that
we have no local social services infrastructure that can lead the recovery process. The number of doctors and
paramedics is inadequate and the state of social services remains abysmal.