Parts
of district Rajanpur still await attention and help from the state and civil
society
Turning
disasters into opportunities may have been a successful experience in the lives
of some Pakistanis but for the people of hill-torrents affected areas on the
western part of district Rajanpur, bordering Balochistan, it seems a distant
reality.
The unprecedented
2010 floods were disastrous in all respects for the poor people but the
subsequent problems, involving poor response of the government and civil
society, have added more miseries to people’s sufferings and sense of
exploitation.
District Rajanpur
lies west of the Indus River. It has a narrow strip of land sandwiched between
the river Indus on the east and Suleman Mountains on the west. District
Rajanpur in general, and areas commonly known as Ilaqa Pachadh adjacent to
Suleman mountain ranges in particular, have been victim of State’s persistent
neglect. The area presents poor human development indicators, abysmal
socio-economic conditions and appalling development with a majority of
population suffering with illiteracy, malnourishment, unemployment and a
growing sense of deprivation.
Hill torrents
commonly known as ‘Rod-Kohi’ emanating from Balochistan as well as Suleman
Ranges cause flash floods and massive destruction every other year. The speedy
waters of mainly Kaha Sultan, Chachar, Baga Khosra and Kala Khosra pass through
a number of areas and finally culminate in vast areas of Harrand, Hajipur,
Fazilpur, Muhammad Pur Dewan, Dajal and Rajanpur and lead to destruction to
humans, agriculture, and infrastructure. The affected people, unfortunately,
receive either no or very little response by the state and civil society.
According to a
pre-flood 2010 report, ‘Food Insecurity in Pakistan 2009’ jointly published by
Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), World Food Programme (WFP),
and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Rajanpur is ranked at
59th food insecure district among 131 districts of Pakistan whereas 55.3
percent population of the district is food insecure.
The western part of
the district, particularly union councils in Mat Kund, Harrand, Tibi Lundan and
Wah Lishari, border Balochistan and more specifically district Dera Bugti
which, according to the report, is the number one food insecure district in
Pakistan. The human development and socio-economic conditions in these union
councils are more or less similar to neighbouring Balochistan.
People affected by
hill torrents have a growing sense of resentment. They say they have been
either ignored altogether or have not been taken care of properly. In fact, the
focus of district administration, provincial government, NGOs and INGOs, and media
have been on areas affected by floods on the eastern side of the district.
After the floods, people affected by hill torrents feel neglected to this day.
Last year’s
unprecedented hill torrents broke all previous records of destruction. The hill
torrent flood channels had been designed for the discharge of 4,000-10,000
cusecs while the flow of the Kaha hill torrent alone was recorded at 10, 0000
cusecs coupled with persistence of rains and floods for weeks.
The violent flash
floods damaged property, standing crops, local infrastructure, livestock, and
drinking water systems, etc.
The dilapidated
link roads made the life of affected people miserable. Public transport was
suspended on most routes for weeks while people had to pay high prices for
their daily food items during and after the floods. According to World Food
Programme (WFP), 15-25 percent increase in price hike has been observed in the
country after floods. However, there was uncontrolled inflation as
flood-affected people had to pay Rs200 rupees for one kilogram of potato what
to talk of other essentials.
Most of the farmers
had to take loans from the agriculture bank, and other commercial banks,
selling out their valuables for buying agricultural inputs. People sowed seeds
while investing additional agriculture inputs for the cultivation of next crops
but every investment was a waste due to persistence of floods and rains.
Floodwater has also damaged tube-wells of many. According to an early
assessment of Punjab Flood Relief and Rehabilitation department, the district
suffered with Rs11.37 billion losses with Rs4.03 billion losses to
infrastructure, Rs3.30 billion damage to the education sector. However, it is
not clear if the areas affected by hill torrents are included in this
assessment or not. Various assessment reports of relief and humanitarian
organisations give an alarming account of destruction in these areas, quite
contrary to government’s vague assessments.
Affected people
have also complaints about influential people. They have a sense that plans and
decisions are made without involving the affected communities. They have
serious concerns and resentment over discriminatory distribution of Watan
Cards. The district administration enjoyed an unchallenged discretionary powers
to declare villages as calamity-hit or not-affected.
Villages which
faced less than 40 percent household destruction were not declared eligible for
Watan Cards at all which subsequently left out genuinely affected.
Interestingly, the
government had declared all villages of these areas as calamity-hit but,
subsequently, most of the villages were de-notified, thus depriving the
genuinely-affected people of their due right. Even some of those populations
were issued Watan Cards which were hardly affected by the floods.
Now, over six
thousand heads of households have got together and are preparing to file their
case in the Supreme Court of Pakistan under public interest litigation to get
their issues addressed.
Like partial
success of Watan Cards, the government took the one-off initiative of provision
of seeds and fertilizers to affected people for wheat cultivation but this
process also included a number of serious issues of coverage and distribution
mechanisms.
Even today, there
is an urgent need of a detailed assessment as well as a comprehensive response
to rehabilitate and reconstruct peoples’ lives, property, and infrastructure.
The state of
Pakistan has been investing so much in arms and guns to ensure the security of
state, but the security of the state can only be ensured if it strikes a
balance with investment into human beings and weapons.
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