KARACHI: Expressing their concern over the devastation unleashed by downpours and flooding in the rural areas of Sindh, opposition political parties have questioned performance of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government and deplored its incompetence and bad governance which, they said, turned the situation more disastrous.

They demanded a transparent and effective system to be put in place to monitor performance of the district administrations across the province and feared that absence of a proper mechanism to check flood relief activities would lead to corruption and misappropriation of funds, which were expected to flow in in response to countrywide appeal for assistance.

“There’s no doubt that this year has witnessed extremely high count of rain in Sindh and Balochistan,” said former federal minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Sindh chapter president Ali Zaidi.

“But has the current situation in Sindh developed overnight? Has the Met office not warned of above average rains? This situation has been turned into disaster due to incompetence of the Sindh government. We fear that it’s not over yet. The Sindh government and its never-ending greed would now deprive people of their due assistance.”

MQM-P also deplores ‘bad governance’

He was confident that the recent political trend and its incompetence to meet the challenges would lead to an end of PPP’s rule over Sindh. This situation, he said, would further expose the PPP and its governance as the “feudal mindset” would never change and learn from past mistakes.

“The dark night is about to end and Sindh is at the verge of getting rid from Zardari mafia, and in general elections 2023, PTI will return victorious and form government in the province,” he said.

“The people of Sindh have drowned along with their cattle and PPP ministers are busy holding photo sessions. Our workers across the province are busy helping the affectees. The PTI will bring an end to tyrannies of Zardari mafia and it will make them answerable within and outside the Sindh Assembly.”

Jamaat-i-Islami chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman wondered that why the government facilities across the province were not opened to the people who lost their houses and other properties to the flooding. He said the PPP made every effort to make flood in the province as an excuse to postpone scheduled elections, but on ground it had not made a single concrete move to help out the affectees.

“Our party’s welfare wing Al-Khidmat already has hundreds of volunteers in both Sindh and Balochistan who are coordinating with local administration and all other organisations for effective relief operation,” he said, adding: “But it’s so unfortunate that the provincial government of the PPP which enjoys mandate from these affected areas and powers for the last 14 years has failed to meet the challenge while every resource is missing from the scene. Their incompetence has made this situation more disastrous.”

He said that in many affected Sindh districts the local administration was exploiting the situation and people were able to get some relief only by using their “connections” or political influence. Similarly, he said, there were a number of reports that the floodwater was deliberately diverted to settled localities only save the agricultural lands of the landlords, feudal lords and political leaders, who were associated with the ruling party.

In a statement, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) expressed its serious concern over the recent flood situation in rural Sindh and criticised the PPP government for its “failure” in managing the disaster.

“The recent rains in different parts of Sindh have caused flooding in different parts of the country,” said the statement issued by MQM-P’s coordination committee.

“But the situation in Sindh is more critical due to bad governance of the PPP. The civil administration in Sindh has badly failed and the people have been left at the mercy of donor organisations and charities. The situation calls for greater effort with sincerity and honesty.”

Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) -- an umbrella organisation of five political parties – accused the Sindh government of getting away from the challenge. It alleged that the ruling party would only become active when the international donor agencies started showing interest that would open new avenues of corruption and misappropriation.

“The GDA workers and volunteers would not abandon people of Sindh in this critical hour. Our workers have set up emergency centres in all affected Sindh districts and coordinating with all relief organisations,” said Sardar Abdul Raheem of the GDA.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2022