Flood victims in Pakistan continue to have complaints against the government after Balochistan witnessed natural disaster in 2022. Most of the people have said that they have not been taken care of in the aftermath of the floods, The News International’s weekly magazine .
The “fundamental flaws in the disaster mitigation and response system” in Balochistan remain the main issue, according to The News on Sunday. The Provincial Disaster Management Authority has the budget. However, it lacks planning, accountability and direction, which stops it from providing help to those who need it.
The rainfalls followed by flash floods and aided by crumbling infrastructure and insufficient government response mechanisms caused havoc in Balochistan in 2022. As per the situation reports of the National Disaster Management Authority, as of November, 336 people died and 187 were injured in the aftermath of the floods in Balochistan.
Over 2,220 kilometres of roads were destroyed and 350,000 houses were washed away due to floods. Flood victims living in Balochistan will face a difficult situation as winters in the region are often harsh. Naseerabad, Jaffarabad and Sohbatpur districts were worst affected by floods, according to The News on Sunday.
After six months of floods, the locals have a long list of complaints against the government. The locals have said that they were given more assistance by the government in the 2010 floods, which caused less damage. Government officials in an interview with The News rejected the claims made by the local residents.
According to the officials, the government has provided free wheat seed to small farmers in Balochistan. Officials said that the wheat seed will be helpful for farmers in the cultivation of wheat in the ongoing season as floods had swept away seed stockpiles in many places, which risked a severe shortage of wheat next year.
Officials acknowledged that some parts of the Naseerabad region remain inundated and the water in Naseerabad will take a long time to recede. Some officials claimed that reports of huge volumes of flood water inundating farmland were exaggerated, The News International’s The News On Sunday reported.
Meanwhile, the provincial government is facing financial difficulty with imprudent spending and delays in the release of federal transfers. It has left the government with limited resources to help flood victims and there has been little rehabilitation being carried out by the government.
As per the news report, the government apparently expected more help from foreign donors, which did not come through. In order to fill the vacuum, the government has urged local NGOs to help the flood victims.
The NGOs are working in several parts of the Naseerabad division and providing assistance to people. In addition, inefficiency in government systems is exaggerating the situation, according to the news report. The government stopped some of the NGOs from undertaking work without taking permission when they first arrived in the Naseerabad division for relief work.
Some have said that the government had taken the decision to control the activities of the NGO which led to a delay in relief work by some aid agencies. The government also undertook a damage assessment and people were asked to appear before the assessment committees and file claims for damages.
The assessment committees have completed their work, however, the final report has not been made yet, according to The News International’s weekly magazine The News on Sunday. The delay has impacted the rehabilitation work of government departments, private philanthropists and NGOs.