With reference to a report, “Kalam's spirited response”, published recently I am really glad that after the devastation of floods Kalam is coming back to life.

As a regular visitor of the area, I have some observations. Now that the rebuilding process has started, the administration should plan the work on modern scientific lines.

Kalam is without doubt one of the most beautiful spots on planet Earth. It has tremendous tourism potential. However, somebody has to guide the simple people who live there.

Self-help work is the ideal solution but there has to be a master plan. Islamabad is the only city of Pakistan that has partially followed a plan and we can see the difference.

Places like Kalam are a national asset and one would like to see them flourish and not dissipate at the hands of the hotel mafia.

In the past, restaurants were established almost inside the Swat river, and the river took its revenge.

All kinds of pollutants were being lodged into the pure and clean water. How long could this carry on? Nature tends to settle scores but it was the poor natives who suffered.

I appeal and hope that better sense will prevail and a grand design, free of avarice and greed, will be implemented for the restoration of Kalam, as well as for other parts of the Swat valley. We can turn this country's recreational sites into places where people can spend their summer holidays in a peaceful environment.

The peaceful environment is a sure cure for diseases like depression, hypertension, diabetes, and corruption. The army and the administration should keep a watchful eye over developments so that there is no illegal activity taking place. The mountains are not safe havens for outlaws and gangsters.

AIR CDRE (Rtd)
M. TARIQ QURESHI
Rawalpindi

Disaster management

THIS flood, created by torrential rainfall, has witnessed scenes of disaster spread over scores of towns and cities, with the death toll reaching 1,700, and property losses estimated in trillions. Called the costliest flood in Pakistan's history, it set in motion gigantic relief measures across the country

The terms mitigation and preparedness used in disaster management cycle are, to some extent, overlapping; but the former generally referred to actions in advance to limit the impact of hazards, while the latter denoted actions in advance to ensure effective response when impacts occurred.

However, the concept of disaster management cycle has also attracted criticism for the very fact that it portrays hazard response in a circular fashion.

It has been suggested that the cycle reinforces the perception of disasters as exogenous, implying that the hazard event is a physical aberration from normal conditions and that circumstances will return to normal once the event has passed.

This downplays the notion that social vulnerability to hazards may be pre-existing in normal circumstances and that flood disasters are, in part, endogenous.

Arguably, it also fails to acknowledge that hazard impacts may have long-lasting effects on coping capacity at individual, community and national scales. In particular, under conditions like ours, livelihood losses sustained during floods may lead to an exacerbation of vulnerability, so that households become yet more susceptible to the next major flood (that is, 'poverty'). The result is a negative spiral, rather than a closed circle.

Alternatively, the notion of a spiral can have positive connotations if allied with effective progress in risk reduction. Just as vulnerability is seldom static, so coping capacity at all levels may be transformed by the influx of new ideas, technologies and practices and by the lessons learned from previous disastrous experiences.

The promotion of the concept of 'virtuous spirals' of risk reduction in which learning from a previous disaster-stricken region can stimulate adaptation and modification in development planning rather than a simple reconstruction of pre-existing social and physical conditions. Processes of learning and adaptation are just as much part of the social fabric of flood risk as changes in human vulnerability. Present coping mechanisms and future adaptive strategies that relate to risks from floods, their permanent residence is of prime interest.

UMER MUMTAZ
Rawalpindi

Plea for inquiry

THIS is with reference to the letter by the adviser to the chief minister of Sindh (Sept 5) in response to Dawn's editorial.

I am amazed that the spokesperson for the chief minister has the temerity to refute the charges of their blatant failure to protect the lives and properties of the people.

The provincial government is not even prepared to hold an inquiry against those who are responsible for breaches in Tori protective dykes to save their modern agriculture farms and factories.

I agree that there are a few examples where people like Federal Minister for Commerce Amin Fahim have shown vigilance in order to protect vulnerable protective bunds situated from Saeedabad to Matiari. But it was in his personal capacity and connection with the people of the area.

If the provincial government is interested in reducing the miseries of the affected people, it should immediately hold an open inquiry to determine the causes of breaches and punish those held accountable.

Justifying inefficiency of the provincial government's machinery at these most trying times is like rubbing salt on one's wound.

QAZI SALEEM KARAR
Old Hala

Weather patterns

ACCORDING to climate change experts, Pakistan is one of the countries that are highly exposed to changing weather patterns. This year's monsoon rains and the deadly floods that followed point to this rising challenge.

These floods also gave another proof (if ever more proofs were required) of the need for better water management and the availability of sufficient storage capacity.

Pakistan's share in global carbon emissions might not exceed 0.4 per cent, but the perverse effects of climate change are already knocking at our door. Our weather is becoming increasingly extreme and erratic. This means that in future, we may have prolonged spells of rain shortage and droughts, as well as occasional heavy rains.

We can prepare ourselves for the former by concentrating on tackling the latter.

MAZHAR MUGHAL
France