Effective strategy can avert future flooding, climate impacts

Effective strategy can avert future flooding, climate impacts

MULTAN, Sep 11 (APP): Shah Meer Jalalani’s heart wrenched as he saw his mud house flattened by gushing torrents from Suleman Mountain Range after torrential rains hit the Rajanpur district of South Punjab region inflicting loss to human lives and property.

He could only rush to take refuge at a nearby 11 feet high knoll along with his dozen-strong family members leaving behind his valuables inundated by flood in his village Basti Sultan Nagar, a tribal area of tahsil Jampur.

His heart ached on seeing loss to his lifelong earning but saving his wife, two daughters, six sons and two elderly parents was a sigh of relief for him. He had never thought to endure living on a knoll helplessly when water was all around with people running for their lives.

“It was water all around. People were struggling for their safety in hope of some help. But, what we could find, was the ceaseless downpour compounding our problem,” recalled Shah Meer whose only earning was daily labor work.

“Water was high enough to touch the mound top but there was space we could sit,” Shah Meer. “We spent two days without food when a rescuers’ boat found us, provided some edibles and took us to nearby Jampur-Harrand roadside dry place where we were also provided a tent to live.”

The flood triggered by torrential monsoon rains over Suleman Mountain Range spared none, sweeping everything in its way submerging villages in Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan districts besides a thriving city Fazalpur. It ravaged the lives of poor and white-collar communities alike.

Rehmatullah Lashari, a local landlord of Basti Nawab, witnessed his riches turning into rags including five tube wells powered by solar system with a cost of Rs 15 million to water his own land.

“My house and near maturity cotton crop has been swept away by flood. I cannot sow wheat on this soil due to water. Everything I had is gone now,” he said amidst fears that he could not be able to cultivate his land for months.

The catastrophe befalling people from all provinces was huge in magnitude, leaving millions homeless and compelling them to survive with their families along roadside and at relief camps, solely depending on aid for food and other needs.

Aziz Ahmed Machi, a tailor from Rojhan Mazari met the same fate. The bread winner of 13-member family lost his house along with dowry of his daughter.
Same happened with an elderly widow Sahab Bibi in mauza Rakh Azmat Wala whose a few marla house was wiped away during this catastrophe.

“We were living happily in our two-room mud brick house but floods turned it all upside down sweeping dowry of my daughter,” Sahab Bibi said.

Amidst the visits of the President, the Prime Minister and the federal and provincial ministers, the NDMA, Armed Forces jawans and local authorities were busy day and night to provide relief goods to calamity hit people.

According to OCHA Humanitarian Advisory Team’s (HAT) situation overview citing National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) report, floods affected over 33 million people across the country and around 470000 forced to live in collective sites and many more displaced being hosted by other households.

“Hill torrents often cause trouble during monsoon season but not to the huge extent witnessed this time in Rajanpur and DG Khan districts,” said a former Director General (DG) of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Sardar Hassan Akhtar Khan Gorchani.

The deluge had ravaged his crops in Lalgarh village of tahsil Jampur as the rain water overflowed from nullahs and tributaries flowing through the area.

Seeing the destruction of flood, he came out with an opinion of de-silting the route of hill torrents and expanding their width besides building dams.

“Once 50-60 feet wide and enough deep, hill torrents routes now portray some ordinary nullahs after continuous silting and encroachment had shrunk their bed,” he remarked.

Narrating a pre-partition practice during British Raj, he explained, the farmers used to contribute in de-silting activities by digging soil and widening the bed. “This activities used to prove as a safeguard against torrents absorbing maximum flow of rain water.”

But, in recent decades this practice vanished with bed level coming up and now even moderate rain exposes the adjacent area to flood, he said and also proposed to construct ‘Maranj dam’ as envisaged sometimes back by MNA Sardar Jafar Khan Leghari.

He said the project’s approved PC-1 cost was Rs 350 million and a sum of Rs 255 million was allocated in PSDP 2020-21. “I have recently requested federal minister for water resources to speed up work on the project to save people from floods and produce cheap electricity.”

In view of the recent heavy rains and floods and upcoming climate change challenges, it is imperative for the authorities to evolve comprehensive and long term strategy to avert such catastrophe in future.

It is high time for building more dams, deepening the existing river beds whenever there is flood warning and opt for climate resistance crops to cope with the challenge through a multi-pronged approach.

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