IN 2020, when Covid became a reality and the world community endeavoured to find a solution to the problem, doctors and the research community stood up to the challenge and answered the call. Across the world, doctors and scientists tried to have the vaccine ready and suggested preventive procedures to slow down the spread of the virus. In comparison, after the devastating 2005 earthquake and the equally, if not more, catastrophic floods of 2010, our departments and institutions remained unprepared and all but paralysed.

It took intense international pressure and extremely generous foreign funding to not only support us in recovering from those unfortunate times, but also to help us stand on our feet and establish relevant platforms, such as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and its provincial counterparts.

They were supposed to work towards reducing the disastrous effects of future earthquakes and floods by conducting research and setting enhanced standards in addition to establishing a plan of action in case bridges or roads were swept away or damaged.

Unfortunately, looking at the events of the last few months, it seems none of that happened as there was a visible disconnect between the government and various institutions not only in terms of priorities, but also understanding. This year’s floods affected the same infrastructure in many of the same locations that it had done in 2010. Likewise, the floods this year affected the same families that had suffered back in 2010.

This has not only brought back memories of their loved ones, but also of the apathy of the government that seems to be caring more about who is in power instead of whom it rules over.

The flow of information this year was better compared to 2010, and people themselves had been aware of the actual risk which made them evacuate their towns and villages before the disaster struck. Things could have been even better had the NDMA and PDMAs been given their due rights and powers in the absence of which they are nothing more than paralysed institutions much like the rest of the government departments.

Therefore, instead of expecting the government or its institutions to do anything on account of pre-planning — something that they seem to be simply unable to comprehend — I would much rather ask the research community of the country to take the lead in this regard. For the last 75 years, the community has been acting pretty much independently and selflessly in carrying out research on critical issues even though nobody has shown the willingness to make use of such efforts.

In an approach similar to what the doctors took during the Covid outbreak, researchers in the fields of engineering and all other relevant field should work on understanding the effects of the previous floods. This should be done not only to establish cause-and-effect relations for the damaged infrastructure, but also to find the shortcomings in the design and/or execution of the structures that have been damaged, and the strengths of those that survived.

In doing so, we would not only help our fellow field members to implement a more promising future for our stock inventory, but would also be contributing in the real sense towards the betterment of the country; a feeling that has been lacking in our research for quite some time now.

Omair Shafiq
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2022