A shocking revelation has come to the fore as a top official has admitted that the government does not have district-wise data of the population affected by the recent devastating floods in the country. This of course undermines the authenticity of the Post-Disaster Need Assessment report that put the losses at over $30 billion, and also hampers the ability of authorities to deliver relief effectively. This level of incompetence and indifference is extremely concerning given the magnitude of the calamity in question.
This startling disclosure was made by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Director (Operations) Brig Muhammad Umar, while responding to a query during the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance. With winter setting in, the gaps in data have left hundreds of thousands of people without basic needs such as blankets and tents.
Sindh’s Khairpur district was at the centre of discussion during this meeting as it was pointed out that between 100,000 to 150,000 people have been affected by the floods, however, due to the lack of data, thousands of people in the constituency had been left at the mercy of harsh weather and in search of warm shelter and clothes to avoid being exposed to cold. While the losses are immense, there has been a lot of relief and aid coming in, but in the absence of union-council-level data, disbursing that aid effectively is going to be impossible.
As mentioned above, this also raises serious questions about the government’s damage assessment and the utility of the PDNA report that has been prepared by the World Bank with the collaboration of the ADB, the UNDP and the EU.
This level of callousness is unacceptable. The scale of devastation is unlike anything we have witnessed in the past and there is a lot of work that needs to be done in terms of rebuilding lives across the country. But at this point in time, we are struggling with the most basic measures, that is of distributing relief to the affected. Pakistan is also conducting a global campaign in relation to the floods and the need for greater cooperation and assistance, but it is a shame to see that we cannot even do our basic homework while the foreign office spearheads this international campaign.