There might not be a clearly spelt-out strategy to deal with the floods-induced challenges in Pakistan beyond donation appeals to finance the rescue and relief efforts for the marooned millions. The government is said to be actively pondering many proposals to mitigate risks and emerge stronger from the current crisis.

To ensure food security, the government has decided to build up wheat reserves by ordering additional imports, removing duty on certain edibles and floating the idea of vegetable imports from India. However, the idea of reopening the trade with India conflicted with the current foreign policy stance towards the eastern neighbour. “The idea was shot down before it grew wings”, a proponent of the proposal, unhappy with the politicisation of the issue, shared privately.

The government wished to ensure the early repair and rehabilitation of power and the internet infrastructure across the country to limit interruptions in electricity and communication networks. Power minister Khurram Dastgir Khan when quizzed on the policy to deal with the current disaster said, “I have been away from the capital ensuring electricity-infrastructure rehabilitation in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, so not yet briefed on the broader strategy.

“The government has successfully rehabilitated electricity infrastructure across the country, except for some districts in Balochistan where flash floods have toppled transmission poles and pylons. We expect to restore them in the coming week,” he wrote back, responding to a set of queries.

Higher-ups in the government seem too absorbed in damage control to gather stakeholders for evolving a viable strategy owned by all segments

The possibility of engaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to soften conditions has also been weighed at the highest level. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, in his talk at the Institute of Business Administration last week, hinted at clinching a softer deal with the IMF as he said donors well understand the growing post-flood situation and the distress it caused for the masses.

Taking cue from global climate change activists, the government is developing a case to demand Western nations with a deeper carbon footprint to share the cost of the fallout of climate change in Pakistan.

Planning Minister Ehsan Iqbal hammered the point when he reportedly said in a press conference: “Our carbon footprint is the lowest in the world, but Pakistan is among the ten most vulnerable nations. The international community has a responsibility to help us upgrade our infrastructure and make it more climate resilient so that we don’t repeatedly endure the current magnitude of loss.”

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is said to be cognizant of the fact that the situation can turn uglier any day. He wanted to take all stakeholders across the political divide, civil society representatives, corporate sector leaders and social activists on board to pool the best talent and maximum resources for dealing with the massive crisis. However, an insider in Islamabad told this scribe that the hostile stance of the opposition parties, particularly the PTI, made it hard for the prime minister to sell the idea to coalition partners and members of his team.

Some members of the kitchen cabinet thought all efforts should be directed towards relief. “It’s not worth investing time and energy in forcing everyone to sit around a table when no one expects much from the exercise. The idea has not been dismissed but deferred for the time being,” a senior leader of the ruling coalition said.

The response was weak on the question of why the National Disaster Management Agency is in the background when it is vested with the mandate to spearhead relief operations in emergencies. The agency’s hierarchy was approached, but they did not get back till the filing of the report. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sharif has announced plans to create a National Flood Response and Coordination centre for bringing together all line ministries and sub-national tiers of the government for what he terms ‘a more comprehensive response’.

Pakistan is still calculating the scale of damages during the worst ever flash floods that submerged three fourth of the country and unleashed an unprecedented humanitarian crisis at a time when the country is already struggling economically and the political situation is anything but stable.

Besides the loss of precious lives, the early estimates put the devastation cost, including infrastructure, housing, and agriculture, in the vicinity of $11 billion or Rs2.4 trillion (calculated at the exchange rate f Rs220). “Families ravaged by the catastrophe need immediate relief for survival and sustainability. This is our first and foremost priority at the moment,” said a leader of the ruling coalition.

“The government has diverted development funds for flood relief. Philanthropic outfits are active in certain pockets, donations are pouring in, but the challenge, everyone agrees, is too humungous and needs a well-crafted scientific strategy to cut losses and rehabilitate people and infrastructure,” he added.

A business leader said the government had not approached them to discuss the revival strategy. “Like other concerned citizens, business community members are doing all within their means to help those in need directly or through outfits they trust. Unfortunately, higher-ups in the government seem too absorbed in damage control to gather stakeholders for brainstorming and evolving a viable strategy owned up by all segments.”

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 5th, 2022