Devastation caused due to rain in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa highlights systemic issues: Report

Islamabad, Aug 24 (IANS) Devastation in Buner and across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where hundreds of people lost their lives and entire villages were destroyed, cannot be attributed solely to torrential rain but arises from a system that ignores science, violates its own rules, and consistently fails to hold violators accountable, a report has said.

Construction on riverbanks and floodplains is a human action. Hotels and homes did not get constructed in known hazardous zones on their own. They were given approval or tolerated by officials, who turned a blind eye to the risk. Pakistan's Prime Minister has rightly termed it a "human blunder," Pakistan-based Business Recorder said in an editorial.

The report said: "The pattern is depressingly familiar. Each round of floods produces the same cycle of pledges, relief cheques, and solemn vows of reform. Then inertia sets in, vested interests reassert themselves, and the memory fades until the next catastrophe. Laws already exist to regulate construction and land use. Environmental and disaster management authorities are mandated to stop encroachments and protect floodplains. Yet the rules are not enforced, permits are granted under political or commercial pressure, and the costs are borne by the poorest communities. That is the governance failure at the heart of this crisis. It is not simply about capacity or resources. It is about will."

If the Pakistani authorities can use their machinery against tax defaulters or petty encroachments in the city, they can implement a ban on construction in flood-prone areas. The authorities, apart from taking action against ordinary citizens for minor violations, can also act against the well-connected interests whose illegal projects exacerbate natural disasters into human tragedy. That it does not speak to the selective application of the law, the report said.

The Business Recorder editorial said: "The Prime Minister has now promised meetings with provincial governments on disaster preparedness, reforestation, and construction regulation. These are necessary conversations, but they are not enough. The public has heard such promises before. What matters is enforcement and accountability. Have the hotels and structures that collapsed into rivers in 2022 been rebuilt in the same places? Were those who authorised them ever investigated? Unless these questions are answered with action, declarations from the top amount to little more than rhetoric."

Without effective punishment for breaches and lacking institutional structures that insulate planning from political interference, each monsoon will bring more avoidable deaths and devastation. Reforestation initiatives and disaster drills are important; however, they cannot be a replacement for a state that does not implement its own writ, it said.

"Natural disasters are unavoidable, but their consequences are shaped by choices. Pakistan has chosen, time and again, to let influence and corruption dictate where people build, how forests are felled, and whether safety codes are enforced. That choice has left hundreds dead and thousands displaced once again. To say lessons were not learned is true, but it is also incomplete. Lessons were deliberately ignored. Unless this cycle is broken with concrete action and accountability, the Prime Minister’s words will serve as nothing more than another entry in the long catalogue of unheeded warnings," the editorial maintained.

--IANS

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