The pace of recovery in Sindh, beyond relief and rehabilitation efforts, will depend on the province’s ability to manage the plantation of the Rabi crops (cotton, rice, sugarcane, chillies, etc.) that have to be sown latest by early December.

“Rabi crop must be cultivated to rebuild lives and kickstart recovery in Sindh even if it has to be delayed to early December from October-November. We are targetting the revival of the irrigation network on priority, supporting and facilitating farmers with timely provision of seeds, tools/machinery and fertiliser and developing systems to lend a helping hand to inspire confidence to restart farming activities as soon as possible,” stated the chief minister of Sindh.

He was talking to a select group of journalists at the Chief Minister House early last week. Will the help of a PowerPoint presentation, he tried to fill in the information gaps. Slides highlighted inundated areas and those in danger of flooding, estimated losses, relief delivered thus far by the government, armed forces, etc, and the projected supply requirement necessary to sustain the displaced population.

Visibly distressed over the danger of flooding in multiple second-tier cities of Sindh and overwhelmed by the scale of devastation Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah did not even pretend to be in control. On the contrary, he expected the situation to actually get worse before it started to improve in the province.

Aware of the trust deficit, the Sindh government encourages NGOs’ rehabilitation efforts while it targets Rabi season’s crop cultitvation

“Eight hundred per cent higher than average rain in the provinces was a bolt from the blue. In mid-July, we took stock of the expected rain situation in the presence of all relevant functionaries, including the provincial disaster management authority. We assumed we had sufficient supplies to cope with the above-normal rain that Pakistan Metrological Department had warned us about.

“No one even remotely suggested what was to be. It was beyond our wildest imagination. Sadly, the situation turned out to be much worse for Sindh. Compared to 241pc higher than normal rain in Pakistan, Sindh received 784pc higher downpours in the first 25 days of August (435.6 millimetres against an average of 49.3mm). Therefore, it is unfair to blame the Sindh government for the misery and devastation in the province. Our systems might not be the best, but no government anywhere in the world can be prepared to cope with such a huge deviation,” the chief minister said.

Sharing his insights from his visits across Sindh, he said, “Floods washed away all mud houses in the affected districts and much of the infrastructure including roads, bridges and canal dykes in the province inflicting damages of whooping Rs1.5 trillion.

“Loss of lives, cattle stock and standing crops have broken our people. We are doing all in our power with the help of the federal government, armed forces, civil society organisations, global bodies and friendly countries to rescue and provide relief, but the challenge is too huge to be managed with the capacity and resource limitations. Sadly, I don’t foresee a semblance of normalcy restored before early December in the province”.

He did not contest the perception of the lack of trust in the Sindh government to channelise donations for flood victims. “Yes, we are aware of the trust deficit and encourage and support all non-government outfits disbursing relief goods and cash support for the uprooted people. It is pertinent, however, to remember that civil society organisations can never substitute government efforts.

“Today collectively, all private bodies might at best be catering to 5pc of the displaced people; the rest is taken care of by the government with the help of federal, local and global supporting structures”. He gave a rundown of relief material disbursed so far amongst the needy in a slide.

He said the dewatering of area is the biggest challenge in Sindh. “With Indus already high, draining of water is the biggest challenge right now. Where can I divert the water? It’s going to take its own sweet time to drain. I hope and pray that there are no further rains. The topography of Sindh doesn’t help. It is relatively flatter and will take longer for water to flow down through Indus to the ocean that is also experiencing high tide.”

He disclosed that a one-year recovery plan is in the works in Sindh. “We intend to focus on rebuilding roads, rehabilitating bridges, restoring the irrigation network and upgrading the drainage system keeping challenges of climate change in sight.

Responding to a question on their stance towards the opposition, he said it’s time to rise above politics, save people and help rebuild their lives and livelihood. “Honestly, I have no time for political bickering. As a chief executive of the province my focus is on dealing with the natural calamity which is my first and foremost responsibility.”

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, September 12th, 2022