IN just a few weeks, Pakistan has been struck by its worst flooding since 2022, with Punjab facing devastation on a scale not seen in decades. In eastern and southern Punjab, millions have been displaced, villages submerged and relief systems overwhelmed. KP is grappling with flash floods and landslides that have claimed hundreds of lives, while Sindh, Balochistan and Azad Kashmir remain on high alert, vulnerable to rising waters and weak infrastructure.

With an escalating humanitarian crisis on our hands, the need for transparency in flood mitigation is urgent. While federal and provincial authorities clamour to reassure the public that rehabilitation efforts have started, on-the-ground realities are vastly different.

In Punjab, communities along the Sutlej, Chenab, and Ravi rivers recount harrowing tales: hundreds of villages inundated, families evicted from their homes without essentials, and relief camps devoid of clean water, medical aid and sanitary facilities. Women and children share two washrooms among thousands, meals arrive once and livestock go starving. Such reports are an indictment of a relief system undermined by inefficiency, complacency and a dearth of oversight.

Compounding the crisis is the controversy surrounding Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. She posted a ‘portable toilet’ image as part of flood-relief operations, only for critics to unveil it as a recycled stock photo. She has also drawn flak for ration boxes stamped with her image and an ill-judged gaffe on rainfall. In short, Punjab’s flood response has been marred by missteps that risk eroding public trust at a critical time. Relief must be real, not staged.

However, the point is not to scapegoat one province, but to demand accountability everywhere. In Sindh, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has called for transparency, urging authorities to “leave no stone unturned” in relief efforts and long-term rehabilitation planning. Words, however, must translate swiftly into action.

Federal lawmakers must also be held to account for their role — not just in rhetoric, but in presence. Are they visiting their flood-ravaged constituencies? Is anyone monitoring the quality of aid? Are funds and supplies reaching the needy rather than being siphoned off by bureaucracy?

All political parties must recognise that disaster is not a moment for politicking, but a test of governance. Every province must issue transparent, auditable data on relief distribution, evacuation figures, camp facilities, and rehabilitation plans. Independent monitoring bodies — journalists, civil society, even volunteers — must be welcomed, not restricted. Floods respect no banners or borders. Our collective response must match the scale of the tragedy — not with posturing, but with precision. Only when transparency becomes the rule, not the exception, can the nation begin rebuilding — not just homes and fields, but trust.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2025