THE disaster being inflicted by the monsoon in Sindh is now becoming tragically reminiscent of last year’s devastating floods. On Monday, the chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority said that four to five million people in the province had been affected — over a fifth of the number affected in 2010 — and 132 had died. Nearly 700,000 houses had been damaged, he added, and standing crops on 1.7 million acres destroyed. Recent days have been especially deadly, with the majority of those who have died losing their lives within the last two weeks.

What makes this all the more unfortunate is that much of this year’s devastation has resulted from a repeat of last year’s mistakes and a failure to take preventive measures in light of that experience. Continued encroachments along drains have prevented their desilting, resulting in breaches. The construction and rebuilding of dykes and embankments planned after last year’s experience was not completed in time. Various stakeholders are arguing, as they did in 2010, about who is responsible for breaches and which areas water should be diverted to. The NDMA and its provincial counterpart claim to be doing their job and the army has played an important role, but the real need is for disaster management expertise at the local level. District-level disaster management authorities have reportedly not been formed in most districts, and there is no provision for such entities at the union council and taluka level. As was the case last year, this leaves response largely in the hands of local government administrations, which are hardly resourced, equipped or trained to deal with natural disasters or their aftermath.

The cycle of human tragedy that has followed is also heartbreakingly familiar. As rainwater has turned to floods due to overflows and breaches in the irrigation system, tens of thousands of houses have been washed to the ground. Standing water has led to mosquito-bred and gastrointestinal diseases that have already taken lives. Roads, communications, electricity and gas have been cut off. Relief goods, including food and tents, are in short supply. The prices of essential items have skyrocketed. Most damagingly, families have lost the cattle and crops on which their livelihoods depend and which will take months, if not years, to regain. Meanwhile, the danger is that the private funds that became such an important part of relief and rehabilitation last year may not be forthcoming until more damage has been done, or at least highlighted. It is past time for Islamabad to concentrate its energies and resources on mitigating the effects of this new monsoon tragedy.