Naseebullah Khan
My Balochistan is sinking. People have been devastated. Their homes have either been destroyed or damaged badly. Their Crops have been lost while their single means of living of Livestock have died. While those responsible to help these flood victims are busy naming and shaming each other. A lthough the flood has been wreaking havoc in the whole country Balochistan has been hit the hardest. 18 districts out of 26 have been declared calamity hit. The average rainfall in Balochistan for the last 30 years has been 55mm. The current waves have been around 200mm which is an increase of 300 percent. The figures of the havoc wreaked by the flood are much more as stated by the PDMA. It states that 576 school buildings have been damaged due to which educational activities have stopped all over the province. 18 Dams have burst, while the death toll is 650 in the country of which 225 have died in Balochistan. More, than 40000 houses were damaged of which 22000 have been destroyed completely. 70000 acres of crops have vanished whereas 1,07,377 cattle have died. In addition, the 24-inch Gas pipelines in Bolan River and in Ziarath have been damaged owing to which the supply of Gas has stopped to many areas. 18 bridges have been destroyed and 690 km of roads have been washed away. The journey in Ratidero_Gwader Motorway (M8), Quetta _Dera Ismail Khan national highway (N50), Killa Saifullah_ Multan national highway (N70), and Quetta_Karachi national highway and rail link have been suspended. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif along with Chief Minister announced that 0.5 million will be given as assistance to the affectees a month ago. Piteously, the amount was decreased as in a recent tweet the PM said that 25 thousand will be paid to 1.5 million houses around the country.The Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Balochistan have established a Flood relief fund. While the government of Balochistan Announced a one-day cut from the salaries of government employees for flood relief funds. The question arises will the establishing of a flood relief fund and cutting a one-day salary from government employees will heal the wounds? The answer is obviously no. Countries or provinces are run through vigilant policies, not on mindless decisions and lustering slogans.The problem is that despite these destinations of the flood, the policymakers and competent authorities are still busy in the tug of war and power struggle. They have been wasting energy blaming, naming, and shaming the opponents. They have shut their eyes to the imminent danger of climate change to overcome. Both provincial and federal governments have been allocating funds for the Bricks and Mortar project while, on the flip side, the Dragon of climate change has been left to devastate the dwellers more.Shamelessly, the bursting of dams, whipping out of Roads, destruction of government buildings, and collapsing of Bridges reflect the incompetency and corruption of the engineers, the bureaucracy, and the construction organizations. How in a short span of fewer than 5 years the Dams have been burst? Bad governance is at its peak.Balochistan has sunken. People’s means of livelihood have been destroyed. The relief of both the federal and provincial governments is limited to lip services. Whereas, all responsible are busy in blame games and power struggles. People are imploring as ar they not human beings and the citizens of Pakistan? Will the authorities pay heed? Will they heal their wounds? The answer is no. They ate dumb. Until and unless floods devastate their cemented houses of them and their own children cry for help, these power-hungry elites will be in deep slumber.
