[Widespread flooding driven by devastating monsoons has affected
33 million people in Pakistan — some 15% of the population. Anger is
growing at the governments failure to provide timely assistance.]
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PAKISTANIS OUTRAGED BY INEPT GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO MONSOON FLOODS  
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S Khan (Islamabad)
August 30, 2022
News Click
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_ Widespread flooding driven by devastating monsoons has affected 33
million people in Pakistan — some 15% of the population. Anger is
growing at the government's failure to provide timely assistance. _

Pakistan's government has declared an emergency and appealed for
international help,

 

For months, tens of millions of people across Pakistan have
been battling the worst monsoon floods in over a decade. Pakistan's
Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said on Monday that the "crisis
of unimaginable proportions" had put a third of Pakistan "under
water."

Unprecedented monsoon rains and catastrophic flooding
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wreaked havoc on the lives of over 33 million people across
Pakistan. 

Officials say that 1,061 people have died
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the start of the seasonal rains. The floodwaters have also destroyed
crops, affecting over 2 million acres of land in the southern province
of Sindh alone — which also reportedly incurred losses of over 400
billion rupees (€1.8 billion, $1.8 billion) due to the floods.

Widespread grief and devastation

Thirty-year-old coal miner Hussain Buksh Marri, from Pakistan's
western province of Balochistan, lost three members of his family in
July to the catastrophe. His father, brother and cousin were among
those who died.

Marri told DW that he and his other cousin were injured during the
floods. He complained that no assistance had been provided, despite
widespread destruction that overwhelmed his town's markets, houses,
buildings and crops.

Marri and his family were making preparations for his
upcoming wedding when the devastating floods rendered his family
homeless and snatched away the meager resources they had left. He
added that his mother has been in shock since the death of her husband
and son.

The response by authorities has been slow, he told DW. It took them
six days to recover the body of one of his family members. So far he
has only received promises of help, but no actual assistance, he
said.  

[A flooded area after heavy monsoon rains pictured from atop a bridge
in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ]
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Millions of acres of rich farmland have been flooded by weeks of
non-stop rain

Failed rescue efforts

Sixty-year-old Razzak Shahid was forced to flee Punjab's town of
Fazilpur on Aug. 18 after around 65% of the urban area became
submerged in water.

Shahid told DW that more than 20 surrounding villages had also been
overwhelmed by the floodwaters for days and that authorities didn't
have enough boats to rescue people.

When locals pointed out bodies floating in the water to
emergency workers, they were told that the rescue service did not
have the capacity to save people who had survived, let alone recover
those who had died. 

This contradicted government claims that they are helping people,
Shahid said. 

Locals furious at government inaction

Sources told DW that people are so furious about what they described
as their government's inaction, that they surrounded a visiting
provincial minister in south Punjab, forcing him to flee
after residents protested against the indifference of the ruling
elite over the plight of those hit by floods.

Similar scenes were witnessed in Sindh, where people also vented
their anger. 

Shahid told DW that his town has been without power for five days. He
added that people needed camps, medicine, food, mosquito nets,
de-watering machines and other items — none of which were adequately
available.  

Diseases have started breaking out, yet no preventative action has
been taken, Shahid said. The government's apathy towards the victims
of the monsoon has fueled a simmering anger, he added.

Heart-wrenching scenes of five men in a northwestern province
town making desperate attempts to save themselves further enraged
locals.

Images depicting children who had been washed away in Balochistan
prompted many to heavily criticize the ruling elite, who they
claimed are busy with political wrangling and making trips abroad.

Why the inadequate response?

Pakistani social media has been abuzz with complaints against
the government's slow response
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extending support to those affected by the floods.

Some politicians believe that apathy and sheer incompetence by the
government are leading to more deaths and destruction.

Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan — a parliamentarian from religious
political organization Jamaat-e-Islami — said that several towns
across the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had made desperate appeals
for help.

But authorities failed to rescue the people there, he told DW, adding
that the government did not make plans to prevent the destruction
despite knowing for months in advance that the monsoon rains would be
unusual this year.

Kishwar Zehra, another parliamentarian, bemoaned the attitude of
politicians in charge of flood-affected regions.

It is highly unfortunate that helicopters are available for
politicians and rulers — but not to rescue people, she told DW. It
can be called nothing but indifference by the ruling elite towards
the grief-stricken people, she added.

Political tensions take priority

Some activists believe the current political tensions are hampering
relief efforts.

Imran Khan, the country's former prime minister, is locked in
conflict with new Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's government —
which has been registering cases against Khan and his
supporters while Khan holds massive rallies to drum up support
for ousting the federal government.

Quetta-based activist Yasmin Lehri believes that flood relief is low
on the list of leaders' priorities. Khan's party rules four of the
six regions affected by floods, she told DW.

Lehri said that Khan has been spending billions of rupees on
political activities while the ministers in these four regions prepare
for taking these actions instead of helping flood victims.

The federal government is equally responsible, she said, claiming it
was also busy settling political scores with Khan instead of devising
a comprehensive flood relief package.

Red tape discourages NGOs

Some experts believe that the government's disaster management bodies
do not have the capacity to deal with flood destruction on an epic
scale.

Islamabad-based development expert Amir Hussain told DW that these
bodies — which are in short supply of helicopters, boats, resources,
funds and workers — have been staffed with non-professional
people.

International NGOs could have helped, Hussain told DW, but the
government has a complicated and lengthy scrutiny process for aid
organizations who wish to work in flood-affected areas, resulting in
a reluctance to work in Pakistan. 

Government rejects criticism

The government dismisses the notion that it hasn't done enough to help
people. Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, a former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor and
a central leader of the ruling party, said that the government has
already announced monetary compensation for the those affected.

It has released 38 billion rupees, aside from calling in the army,
which is rescuing people and extending aid, he told DW, adding the
prime minister is also visiting flood-affected areas to help people.
Jhagra emphasized that these are unusual rains and floods, breaking
the 30-year record.

But even so, they are doing their best to help people, he added.

_Edited by: Keith Walker_

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Telegram channel & get Real-Time updates on stories, as they get
published on our website.  This article Courtesy: DW
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* Climate Change
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* Pakistan
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* floods
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