Floods: Don’t curse, help instead

Dr Lubna Zaheer

After wreaking havoc across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), floodwaters are now ravaging parts of Punjab — indiscriminately swallowing cities and villages alike. Reports now indicate that Sindh is next in the path of destruction, with an estimated 1.2 million people expected to be affected as the floodwaters make their way southward in the coming days. Water experts and responsible journalists have been sounding the alarm for days, urging the Sindh government to relocate citizens to safer ground before the flood arrives. This proactive measure, if taken seriously, could save countless lives.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has forecast water flows of 800,000 to 1.2 million cusecs at Sukkur and Kotri barrages, signaling a high-level flood across low-lying regions of Sindh.

Let us hope that the Sindh government, with support from provincial and federal agencies, takes urgent steps to mitigate disaster. In a previous article, I emphasized how calamities like rain, floods, and earthquakes, although natural in occurrence, often become man-made disasters due to human negligence. In this age of advanced technology and climate forecasting, natural events rarely arrive unexpected and unannounced. We usually have ample time to prepare — or at least mitigate the worst of the damage. Take this flood, for instance. For days, we have known that water levels from Punjab are surging toward Sindh. It is now the duty of the authorities to prepare for impact. If people still lose their lives and property — despite advance warnings — are we really dealing with a "natural" disaster, or are we witnessing the fallout of administrative incompetence? Let’s not forget the root causes either: deforestation, unchecked encroachments on riverbanks, illegal housing settlements, and decades of failure to construct new water reservoirs or dams. When heavy rains come, they morph into catastrophic floods — not solely due to nature, but due to our failure to prepare. So, who is really to blame?

Regardless of cause, the devastation we see today is heartbreaking. Just a few days ago, some of my workers at office shared their personal tragedies: their homes and livestock swept away by the floods. Their eyes welled up with tears as they spoke. Since then, I have not been able to shake the image of what it must feel like to watch everything — your house, your animals, your memories — be washed away in a single torrent. A home is more than bricks and cement. Whether it's a wealthy man’s mansion or a poor family’s humble hut, it holds a universe of human experience — joy, sorrow, struggle, triumph. When the floods destroy such a home, they don't just erase property — they erase one’s world.

In rural Pakistan, livestock is not just property — it’s life itself. Animals are cared for like family members. Now imagine the pain of those who watched helplessly as their cows, goats, and buffaloes drowned. More than this imagine the grief of a mother who lost her three children in the floodwaters. This is not just the plight of remote villages. Many urban areas and even high-profile housing societies are facing the same fate. Unfortunately, many on social media seem more interested in settling political scores. Their attention is limited to places like Park View Housing Society or individuals like Aleem Khan. They ignore the broader humanitarian crisis unfolding across the region. Every other person online now pretends to be an environmental or water expert, flooding timelines with useless rants. In this noise, voices that actually have something constructive to say are drowned out.

Let’s be clear: venting on social media doesn't help flood victims. Shouting at the government, hurling abuses at political figures — none of this will rebuild a destroyed home or bring back lost lives. What will help, however, is action. Take a moment to look around. There may be people within your own circle — employees, neighbors, extended family, who have been directly impacted by these floods. Maybe they need a temporary place to stay. Maybe they need financial support. Maybe they just need someone to safeguard their important documents or belongings. Now is the time to step up.

Some people argue, “If we don’t speak out now, when will we?” It’s a valid question — but disaster management involves both pre and post-disaster phases. Right now, aid must come first. Our national tendency is to shout only when disaster hits, and then forget everything once the news cycle moves on. After every tragedy---- be it the 2005 earthquake or the 2010 floods — we react emotionally for a few days, then retreat into our routines. Media coverage fades. Political will dissipates. And those displaced are left to fend for themselves. Even today, many victims of past disasters remain homeless. Their rehabilitation is still incomplete. Yet, they have been forgotten — by the public, by the media, by the state. That is a topic for another column.

For now, I urge that we must help the flood victims. Set aside the venom. Leave your political differences for another day. Lend a hand. Many government and non-government organizations are working on the ground. But the scale of this disaster is too vast for any single entity to manage alone. This is a national emergency and we must respond as a nation. It is time for political parties and their leaders to pause the blame game, silence the rhetoric, and channel their resources toward rescue and recovery efforts. Let’s make a choice — not to curse and criticize the government, but to help those drowning in its wake.

 

-- The writer is a professor and analyst specializing in media and communication studies. She can be reached at lubna.zaheer91@gmail.com

 

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