BEING one of the remotest regions in Pakistan and situated at a higher altitude, Gilgit Baltistan is very likely to face a serious food and medicine problem compared to other areas under flood in the country.

The main problem is due to the recent fragility of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), the sole connection of Gilgit-Baltistan with the rest of Pakistan in the south and China in the north, which is damaged at every kilometre or two due to the recent heavy rains and flooding at several places.

Transportation has so far been suspended.

It is, therefore, difficult to get help and consignments from the neighbouring country of China.

While inside the GB region, the roads linking the villages have also been damaged at several places making many of them inaccessible.

In short, after the recent flooding Gilgit Baltistan has become literally a landlocked island.

In such a situation aerial routes are the only source to supply aid to the area, as well as transporting goods and people.

There are two airports in operation in Gilgit Baltistan in the cities of Gilgit and Skardu. Flights usually operating from Benazir Bhutto Airport, Islamabad, back and forth depend on clear weather. In the monsoon season flights cannot be operated frequently.

The situation calls for the government, NGOs and communities to take the following steps:

-- Establishing emergency health centres in such areas where electricity is still available.-- There should be made maximum possible flights in operation into the area supplying food and medicine.

-- Helicopter service should be initiated to supply basic needs to the villagers.

The federal government and the international community should make special efforts to reach the affected areas.

SYED MUJAHID ALI SHAH Germany

(II)

ALMOST half of the Punjab Education Foundation's part- ner schools have been affected by floods.

It is hoped that the Punjab government will lend a helping hand to the partner schools so that the cause of education may not suffer.

Partnership with the PEF is the last hope for the sufferers. I also appeal to NGOs, industrialists and philanthrophists to come forward and restore the damaged infrastructure of these schools and help them to rehabilitate so that poor students could continue their free education.

MUHAMMAD ALI Rajanpur

(III)

THE ongoing floods across Pakistan have exacerbated the miseries of the people, who were already suffering from chaos and confusion in the region. However, the state of the flood-hit people is more appalling and pathetic.

They have lost their dear ones and belongings. Myriad of people of rural areas are still marooned, especially in Sindh. No transportation by the government is provided to them to get them out from such calamity.

Those who have been rescued are heartbroken as no appropriate shelter nor proper food or medication is provided to them. At the top of everything, the affected people in upper Sindh are frequently robbed of their belongings by marauders.

The government should take effective steps to meet the challenges of the coming waves of flood and rehabilitate the affected people.

UZMA SHAH SHIRAZI Jamshoro

(IV)

THIS is apropos of your editorial 'Something missing' on the nation's lukewarm response towards meeting the challenge in the face of the current devastating floods (Aug14).

The kind of spontaneous public support, large-scale donations and assistance by volunteers evident in the aftermath of the earthquake, was nowhere seen. We really need to open our hearts and our wallets to our fellow Pakistanis. There is no doubt about it.

However, people's spontaneous and enthusiastic response following the 2005 earthquake and the lukewarm one to the current predicament needs an objective analysis.

I believe that people still have the same patriotic spirit, same love and sympathy for their ill-fated compatriots. They want to help but it should be noted that they can only cut their coat according to their cloth.

The poverty graph of the people has been moving upward quite rapidly since the disaster about five years ago. The low-income groups, the middle class and even the upper middle class are finding it difficult to make ends meet against the spiralling cost of living.

Rampant corruption, mismanagement, poor governance and similar other things have destroyed the country socially and economically and also contributed to lowering the status of the nation diplomatically. Even friendly donor countries are reluctant to donate owing to corrupt practices in the country at every level.

People have reservations about the sincerity of the leadership. They find a big credibility gap. This, to me, is one of the main causes of their lukewarm response.

It would be unfair to expect only from the poor to offer sacrifices and help the victims of such calamities. Now is the time for all the tycoons to come forward on their own and help the people in their hour of crisis.

All said and done, I still believe that no Pakistani would ever allow miseries and calamities to overwhelm his motherland and his own people. He would go allout within his limited resources to cope with the current situation and its anticipated disastrous fallouts. But, for this, the wealthy leadership of the country will have to lead.

ANIS Islamabad

(V)

SOUTH Asian Association of Regional Cooperation is an organisation which the people of South Asia look up to as a saviour in terms of economic stability and security of the region.

Like the various areas of cooperation, the Saarc nations should cooperate and develop a combined disaster management force to which resources should be equally allocated by the member nations.

It may be named as South Asian Disaster Operations and Rehabilitation Force (SADORF), well-equipped with latest technology, tools and suitable personnel, having independent funds in its regional exchequer. Sub-headquarters should be maintained in each country which should work under the supervision of the headquarters based within the Saarc secretariat in Kathmandu, Nepal.

This force should be available at our disposal whenever required in the case of a disaster. Furthermore, the teams within the organisation can be divided into specialised cells, based on the area of expertise such as medicine, earthquakes relief, flood relief, storms relief, etc. Each country should send its senior officials of police and military forces to head various missions and to head the SADORF academy for training of its recruited personnel.

I wish this kind of organisation to come into existence so that lots of lives can not only be saved, but also be rehabilitated as soon as possible. I urge the government of Pakistan to float this idea to the Saarc nations so that it can be implemented without any further delay.

If such an organisation would have existed, disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes and floods would have been managed with great efficiency and the situation would have been much better, but as they say it's never too late.

RANA ZEESHAN PERVAIZ Multan