The fate of those affected by last year’s floods has faded from memory, but the suffering remains. Catastrophic events leave deep wounds. Full recovery is a complex and lengthy process, and some effects of the disaster remain irreversible. Poverty caused or exacerbated by such disasters is one such factor that transcends generations.
The World Bank’s most recent Macro Poverty Outlook estimates that poverty increased in Pakistan over the last fiscal year due to soaring food and energy prices, a struggling labor market and the consequences of floods.
The 2022 floods not only displaced more than 10 million people in Sindh, they also destroyed the country’s largest asset base and paralyzed critical infrastructure and public services.
A situation report issued by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in April showed that more than 2 million houses were damaged (of which 1.4 million completely collapsed), 436,435 livestock were killed and 3.7 million acres of crop area were submerged.
These are not just numbers, but a numerical description of the suffering of poverty, malnutrition, mental disorders and social instability that will be endured by future generations.
Recently, I was in remote areas like Khairpur Mirs, Naushahro Feroze, Ghotki, Badin, Mirpurkhas in Sindh While traveling to other parts of Sindh, I became aware of the suffering in the lives of people affected by the floods.
A woman in her seventies with a wrinkled face burst into tears as she recounted painful memories of spending time in a dilapidated tent on the roadside, cut off from deep pools and eating only one meal a day, surrounded by swarms of mosquitoes. Spend sleepless nights. .
In addition to personal trauma, the loss of critical services has made life miserable for millions of residents. People in many villages say groundwater has become undrinkable as stagnant water flows into aquifers.
With the exception of a few major towns, most areas rely on groundwater for daily uses, including drinking and cooking. Even small towns do not have access to properly treated water through a network of pipes.
The victims of last year’s floods have been forgotten.
According to the post-disaster needs assessment report, 5,318 water and sanitation facilities were damaged in Sindh. Sindh faces losses and damage of up to US$509 million to water and sanitation facilities, community infrastructure and municipal services. The restoration of these facilities and services has been very slow.
Contaminated drinking water is wreaking havoc on public health in Sindh. Gastroenteritis, malaria and skin diseases have been reported in flood-ravaged areas. From January to August, the provincial health department confirmed 247,799 cases of malaria.
Health experts say these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Health department officials attribute the surge in malaria cases to stagnant water and poor sanitation. Most of the flood-affected population has no choice but to drink contaminated water.
The main cause of displacement is house collapse. More than 2 million homes were damaged and millions of people were forced to live in tents and makeshift huts on the roadside. Rural houses are mostly built with unbaked brick walls and thatched roofs (they are called “katcha houses”).
They cannot even withstand normal amounts of rainfall and wind currents. The 2017 annual development report of the Sindh Bureau of Statistics shows that more than half of the houses in rural areas are kacha style.
The proportion of such houses in the worst flood-affected areas include Dadu (56 houses), Jamshoro (65 houses), Kambar-Shahdadkot (65 houses), Khairpur Mirs (51 houses) and Mirpurkhas (71 houses).In these areas, more than 75% of the houses are just
One room structure. Most of these houses were destroyed by floods. The Sindh government has launched an ambitious project to rebuild these houses into pukka (concrete structures). According to reports, more than 325,000 homes are in various stages of reconstruction so far.
The process is time-consuming, but building climate-resilient homes with ownership is expected to bring about a major positive shift in rural areas.
The floods washed away most of the unmetallized tracks, connecting roads, culverts and bridges in rural areas. This has brought unimaginable difficulties to villages far away from normal roads.
The Sindh PDMA reported that 8,463 kilometers of roads, 165 bridges and 1,749 culverts were destroyed. This cripples life in rural areas as alternative routes require longer travel times and higher transport costs. Potholes on the connecting roads have also led to several accidents.
More than a year and a half after the floods, much of the damage remains unresolved and promised recovery is a distant dream for flood-affected communities.
The author is a civil society professional.
Published at Dawn on November 11, 2023