KARACHI, June 8: “The district government never warned us of the storm,” rues Akbar Ali, a local fisherman sitting desolately on the jetty in Gwadar. “Do you think the fishermen would have ventured into the open seas if they had been warned of the impending danger?” Two big boats with about 50 fishermen had reportedly sent an SOS through their satellite phone saying their boat had capsized. Till filing of this report there was no news of their whereabouts.
Cyclone Gonu had hit the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman on June 6 that caused heavy infrastructure damage and loss of life.
Mercifully for Pakistan, it diverted westward. However, in its wake it left a trail of destruction on the coastal pockets of southern western strip of Gwadar, Pasni and Sur Bandar, in Balochistan province.
Meteorologists said it was the worst cyclone to hit the region in three decades.
Sur Bandar was the worst affected area. According to Mohammad Rafiq Kayal, a local social worker, sea water had intruded 300 feet into the land, completely inundating 15 houses and a primary school. “Fifty more homes are also at risk.”
As with many disasters, help from the government was slow in coming. So he, and a hundred other young men, with the help of the National Commission of Human Development’s (NCHD) team of 25 trained volunteers started moving the people to safer areas. “After evacuating the people, we are trying to salvage their belongings.” Kayal regretted that neither the coast guards, nor the navy and not even the local government pitched in.
“Most local people complained that they were not informed. I think we need to develop a faster communication system at the district level to inform people. It is not impossible with satellite phones,” Aminullah Shay, head of the NCHD’s volunteer programme, said. He said that some private TV channels had been warning about the storm but because there was no electricity in the area, they missed it.
Meanwhile, the blame game has already started. Union Council Nazim Abdul Hameed’s excuse: “We would’ve evacuated if we had been informed or pre-warned by the meteorological department. It is their responsibility.”
According to official reports, in Gwadar the damage had been considerable. Of the 270 boats 70 had been completely destroyed while 200 partially damaged. “We lost our engines and our nets to the waves,” said Akbar Ali, a local fisherman. It takes about three months to build a boat which costs between Rs 200,000 to Rs300,000.
Most small fishermen cannot afford that kind of money.
But what could they have done even if they had been warned? “Nothing much, really,” said Mr Ali.
For the past three years, since construction for the port had started, fishermen had been suffering damage during storms.
Mr Ali blamed the protection wall constructed along the port as a safety measure for the damage.
“The wall diverted the water to the jetty. We have been asking the authorities to build breakwater around the jetty so that our boats anchored at the harbour are spared the wrath of the sea, but nobody listens,” said another fisherman, Musa.
The 12 feet high protection wall, the fishermen said, made it impossible for their small boats to be hauled up on to the bank during storms.
“What these people are saying is absolutely correct. The port has diverted the waters to this side,” acknowledged Nazim Hameed. “All the country’s top brass have visited the port, including the chief minister, the prime minister, and even the president. Making the jetty safe has been put up to the parliament and the political parties too. Everyone knows, they all nod but then go away and forget,” he said helplessly.
