Pakistan's Rich and Poor
By Imtiaz Gul
Garhi Khuda Bux (Sind) - Once again, the tide of goodwill in the aftermath of the super-flood favours Pakistan. By himself flying over the affected areas and later giving a graphic description of the devastationthe UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon persuaded members of his organization to step forward and help Pakistan cope with the consequences of what he described as the “slow-motion tsunami.”
And rightly so. It is indeed a “slow-motion Tsunami” because it will now amplify the consequences of a system that rests on a morally bankrupt, intellectually poor, politically self-serving, culturally bigoted and financially corrupt ruling elite comprising politicians, bureaucracy, feudal lords, generals and their apologists in all spheres of life.
And the Garhi Khuda Bux – the ancestral town the Bhuttos – exemplifies the disconnect between this ruling elite and the hapless masses on the one hand, and the misplaced priorities on the other; a huge domed complex now stands over the old graveyard where all the Bhuttos are resting. The three-dombed marble complex is now called the Mazar- the mausoleum, built with public money – drawn from the provincial and the federal kitty. A huge boundary wall, running into hundreds of meters, is being built as the foreyard of the mausoleum, all with expensive holed-blocs, imported from Karachi.
Both and inside the mausoleum, dozens of half-naked children and elderly locals are idling around. Some barefoot, some without shirts, you can count the rib-cage of these emaciated figures. Their faces betray the story of poverty and the miserable life they live under the shadow of this towering complex. Looking at the physical expense and the financial expense incurred on it, it appears as if poverty , education and health facilities for the thousands living by the mausoleum have been taken care of.
The lay-out of the graves inside offers even more disconcerting and reflects how the quest for personal and undivided glory precedes human relations; beside the grave of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is the resting place of the daughter i.e. Benazir Bhutto. Behind these two lie the graves of grandparents but where are the two brothers – Murtaza and Shahnawaz – we ask one of the frail care-takers. He points to two graves behind us – several meters away from the two P.M. graves behind a huge column. Rather than being beside their father, the two brothers were buried at the foot-side of senior Bhutto.
We try to ask for the reason and none of the “wretched of Garhi Khuda Bux” dares tell us the truth; they say the mazar committee incharge must have decided where the brothers would be buried. We don’t expect any better explanation from these down-trodden faithful followers of senior Bhutto. We can only infer that the sister was so overwhelmed with power and authority that she decided to put the brothers away from their father, practically in isolation of others.
Once outside the Mausoleum, we witness more scenes of grueling poverty in the village, with men and women toiling in the sweltering humid heat. This place of phenomenal contrasts only a few kilometers away from Rato Panjdero, Rato Dero and Larkana, the town which the Bhuttos used a launching pad for their political careers.
While driving past these poverty-stricken villages, one wonders how these poor farmers and daily wage workers feel when their representatives zoom past them in their land-cruisers or flying over their heads in helicopters. The dividend of empowerment flows to the elected ones and those empowering them remain stuck in perennial poverty.
Larkana itself represents another distressing story of neglect and extremely poor governance. Dusty, broken and tattered roads, choked sewage lines boiling on to the roads, parts of the town littered with garbage. This is the scene today of the town that gave Pakistan two prime ministers.
Almost a 100,000 displaced from Garhi Khairo and Shahdadkot in particular have taken refuge in Larkana, which is protected by two protective dykes – Nusrat Loop Band and Aqil Aghani Band -. Dozens of heavy machines – tractors, excavators – have been working round the clock to reinforce these dykes to protect , Larkana from the wild overflow of the Indus.
One wonders whether other towns currently submerged in water – Kubo Saeed Khan, Shahdadkot, Thattha, Nasirabad, Rojhan Jamali and scores of others also received the same unusual vigilance. Probably not.
Mother Nature played havoc in October 2005. It is wreaking havoc again in August 2010. It has dispossessed the majority of those living along or near the Indus River basin, while those empowered by the majority are once again stuck in their point-scoring, selfish squabbles, eyeing dividends that will flow from the aid for those affected. God save the hapless majority.
Imtiaz Gul is a senior journalist and political and security analyst working for German radio and many international publications. For his intrusive analysis visit his website www.imtiazgul.com
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
indus saga
Indus Saga
Modern Indus civilization
devastated by floods
By Shamim-ur-Rahman
The fury of the raging Indus , one of the mightiest rivers on planet Earth has uprooted almost everything from its foundations, swept away many to eternal abode , and has made millions shelter less and refugees in their own country which is unable to deal with this one of the greatest human tragedy of modern times. The UN Secretary General has described it much greater a tragedy than Tsunami and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and Haiti’s tragedy.
Water is everywhere with hardly any space to bury the dead. Those who survived the suddenness of the fury of Hydra were now suffering from water-borne diseases. Scores are losing the battle for survival every day. A large number of people, especially children, were suffering from diarrhea, skin diseases, and above all the trauma of losing everything including the family moorings.
Roads, bridges, railway track, homes and other public utilities have been devastated while millions of acres of agriculture land has been swallowed by the mighty Indus. Crops that would have fetched billions of rupees have been destroyed and the farmers do not have the seeds to grow the next crop when the water recedes. There is hardly anything left for the grazing of livestock which has died in thousands. While the flood water will eventually recede and mingle with the sea water, its aftermath is more horrifying.
While Pakistan’s resources are very meager and stretched due to its frontline role in the global war on terrorism, it has become global community’s responsibility for the survival of this nuclearised torch bearer of the ancient Indus valley civilization that has seen many ups and downs.
If the world community failed or slackened in mobilizing sufficient funds and plans on fast track basis, it might be providing space to extremists and ideologically militants backing many non-state actors to overthrow the democratic dispensation that can only survive if it can deliver the bread and butter needs of the people, provide them shelter, education and health care.
In the past the decline of the Indus civilization has been attributed to changes in the courses of Indus and Ravi, changing pattern of monsoon, as is the case of climate change at the moment.
If no swift and serious action plan is devised and implemented, the natural calamity might cause erosion of a vibrant democratic polity in the region. The real challenge therefore is to determine the inner ailment of the successor of Indus civilization. While the government here is making all sorts of efforts to overcome the tragedy and resettle the uprooted people, the international community must understand that if it did not allow Pakistan to rebuild infrastructure and provide basic amenities at cheaper cost for sometimes, such as gas, electricity, gas, petrol and fertilizer, it will be doing a great disservice to the humanity. In that case democracy will lose and extremism will become a dominant force. The rise of extremism in Pakistan is linked to high cost of input that has made its industries non-competitive, rendered millions jobless while the government is unable to address their bread and butter issues due to lack of resources, making the country heavily dependent on the World Bank and IMF salvage baskets. Pakistanis are determined to change this situation as quickly as possible by rebuilding their country and protect it from extremists and jingoist elements that have become a serious threat to the international community.
The enormity of the floods is evident from the accompanying video prepared by my daughter Ayesha Rehman. Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Indus changing its course?
Indus Changing Its Course
By Shamim-ur-Rahman
Due to silting Sukkur Barrage cannot withstand the pressures of high floods, as has been witnessed in the past.The River Indus is the lifeline of Pakistan. However, due to inadequate maintenance of its embankments and massive silting, fears have been expressed that the Indus might change its course again, which will have a grave impact on the economy of Sindh.Every time the Indus changed its course in the past, the irrigation system was destroyed resulting in political upheavals.Sukkur Barrage is vital to the country’s agro-economy, especially Sindh and Balochistan. A warning was sounded when two of the gates on its right side had to be repaired during General Musharraf’s tenure. There were even suggestions to build another barrage at a convenient place upstream to tame the Indus. If urgent steps are not taken, historians may accuse us of destroying our civilisation.Recently at a Sindh Assembly briefing Elahi Bux Soomro, the former Speaker of the National Assembly (himself an engineer), pointed out the dangers faced by Sukkur Barrage in northern Sindh.The danger became noticeable because of non-maintenance. If immediate corrective measures are not taken, the barrage may not last for more than eight to 10 years.There is also a danger of large-scale destruction and the river changing its course permanently in the case of high floods, which are not unusual. Due to silting the barrage cannot withstand the pressure of high floods, as witnessed in the past.Silt has been allowed to accumulate in upstream of the barrage. As a result, new islands have appeared. One large island is blocking seven gates of the barrage.The areas of the old natural islands of Sadhu Bela and the one which connects the Lansdown train bridge to the main banks at Rohri and Sukkur have increased manifold due to the accumulated silt along the river banks. The size of the channel has been reduced to one-third of its original size.What is worst is the fact that parks, restaurants, houses, mosques and other structures have been allowed to be built on these new islands and silt banks. Large scale cultivation with embankments erected to keep out the high flows of the river can be seen all over within the river course.In the original design of the barrage two-mile long guide walls were built on both banks of the river. These walls went right up to Lansdown Railway Bridge.No structures or encroachment was allowed within these walls in order to ensure that the width of the river was protected at all times. Regular cleaning of the silt from the river banks was carried out to ensure that the depth of the pond was maintained.Sukkur Barrage is known to have taken high-floods of one million plus cusecs easily. In 1973 and 1976 it withstood flows of 1.4 million cusecs. With the width of the channel reduced to one-third, obstacles and encroachments have appeared within the guide walls and experts feel that a flow of 500, 000 cusecs may be difficult to pass.They also fear that in the case of high-floods the river may break its banks upstream of Sukkur and the cities of Jacobabad, Larkana, Shikarpur and hundreds of villages in the area may come under water. The river may also adopt a new permanent course after breaking its banks making Sukkur Barrage redundant.The protective walls at the mouth of the canals on both banks are a part of the design and were built in order to stop silt from the mainstream from going into the canals and heavily silting them up.Canals draw their water from the narrow channels between the protective walls and the canal heads. The width of these channels on the two banks covers five gates of the barrage on the right side and six on the left bank.Removing silt accumulating in these channels is part of the maintenance routine of the barrage. Under this procedure depth-soundings are taken within these narrow channels on a daily basis in order to ascertain the amount of silt collecting at the bottom.Whenever the amount of silt goes above the maximum permissible level, the gates of canals are closed and those of the barrage are opened for a few hours to let the silt pass downstream with the flow.Usually this scarring operation, as it is called, is undertaken every 30 or 40 days. For the last four years depth soundings have not been recorded and the scarring operation is being conducted only presently after a gap of almost four years.Naturally the gates of the barrage on side channels are being opened for as long as 48 hours in the present operation instead of the usual six to eight hours. The operation may not succeed as the silt accumulated over the years may have transformed into a firm riverbed. In that case, a large scale and costly dredging would be the only available option.With the bed of the river having gone up and demands in the re-modelled canals rising, a grave situation is emerging.Now water is flowing above the gates of the barrage in the canal but the gates have been designed to let the water flow under them and not over them.New pressure on the gates is developing and if one or two gates of the barrage give way, there will be no barrage left.Irrigation officials are in a fix as to how this problem could be tackled while ensuring increased flow into the canals.However, there cannot be a compromise on removing the encroachments within the guide walls and restoring the width of the pond to its designed size. There may be a problem because of the construction of three mosques which may be difficult to remove.An expert, however, believes that in the case of a flood of 500,000 cusec plus, not only these three, but many other mosques situated on the right bank will go under water apart from damaging the barrage.Some analysts believe that changes in the course of the River Indus and decline in the irrigation system had made the conquest of Sindh easy for Mohammad bin Qasim. Experts are also of the view that choking up of the canal’s mouth or falling into the level of the river will create precarious conditions for farmers.Sukkur Barrage is meant to maintain the desired level of water on the upstream side of river. When the water in the river is in excess, surplus must be allowed to flow downstream by raising the gates. When there is shortfall, the flow of water downstream is either reduced or cut off to maintain the desired level on the upstream.
published in Daily Dawn Oct 12, 2008
www.dawn.com
By Shamim-ur-Rahman
Due to silting Sukkur Barrage cannot withstand the pressures of high floods, as has been witnessed in the past.The River Indus is the lifeline of Pakistan. However, due to inadequate maintenance of its embankments and massive silting, fears have been expressed that the Indus might change its course again, which will have a grave impact on the economy of Sindh.Every time the Indus changed its course in the past, the irrigation system was destroyed resulting in political upheavals.Sukkur Barrage is vital to the country’s agro-economy, especially Sindh and Balochistan. A warning was sounded when two of the gates on its right side had to be repaired during General Musharraf’s tenure. There were even suggestions to build another barrage at a convenient place upstream to tame the Indus. If urgent steps are not taken, historians may accuse us of destroying our civilisation.Recently at a Sindh Assembly briefing Elahi Bux Soomro, the former Speaker of the National Assembly (himself an engineer), pointed out the dangers faced by Sukkur Barrage in northern Sindh.The danger became noticeable because of non-maintenance. If immediate corrective measures are not taken, the barrage may not last for more than eight to 10 years.There is also a danger of large-scale destruction and the river changing its course permanently in the case of high floods, which are not unusual. Due to silting the barrage cannot withstand the pressure of high floods, as witnessed in the past.Silt has been allowed to accumulate in upstream of the barrage. As a result, new islands have appeared. One large island is blocking seven gates of the barrage.The areas of the old natural islands of Sadhu Bela and the one which connects the Lansdown train bridge to the main banks at Rohri and Sukkur have increased manifold due to the accumulated silt along the river banks. The size of the channel has been reduced to one-third of its original size.What is worst is the fact that parks, restaurants, houses, mosques and other structures have been allowed to be built on these new islands and silt banks. Large scale cultivation with embankments erected to keep out the high flows of the river can be seen all over within the river course.In the original design of the barrage two-mile long guide walls were built on both banks of the river. These walls went right up to Lansdown Railway Bridge.No structures or encroachment was allowed within these walls in order to ensure that the width of the river was protected at all times. Regular cleaning of the silt from the river banks was carried out to ensure that the depth of the pond was maintained.Sukkur Barrage is known to have taken high-floods of one million plus cusecs easily. In 1973 and 1976 it withstood flows of 1.4 million cusecs. With the width of the channel reduced to one-third, obstacles and encroachments have appeared within the guide walls and experts feel that a flow of 500, 000 cusecs may be difficult to pass.They also fear that in the case of high-floods the river may break its banks upstream of Sukkur and the cities of Jacobabad, Larkana, Shikarpur and hundreds of villages in the area may come under water. The river may also adopt a new permanent course after breaking its banks making Sukkur Barrage redundant.The protective walls at the mouth of the canals on both banks are a part of the design and were built in order to stop silt from the mainstream from going into the canals and heavily silting them up.Canals draw their water from the narrow channels between the protective walls and the canal heads. The width of these channels on the two banks covers five gates of the barrage on the right side and six on the left bank.Removing silt accumulating in these channels is part of the maintenance routine of the barrage. Under this procedure depth-soundings are taken within these narrow channels on a daily basis in order to ascertain the amount of silt collecting at the bottom.Whenever the amount of silt goes above the maximum permissible level, the gates of canals are closed and those of the barrage are opened for a few hours to let the silt pass downstream with the flow.Usually this scarring operation, as it is called, is undertaken every 30 or 40 days. For the last four years depth soundings have not been recorded and the scarring operation is being conducted only presently after a gap of almost four years.Naturally the gates of the barrage on side channels are being opened for as long as 48 hours in the present operation instead of the usual six to eight hours. The operation may not succeed as the silt accumulated over the years may have transformed into a firm riverbed. In that case, a large scale and costly dredging would be the only available option.With the bed of the river having gone up and demands in the re-modelled canals rising, a grave situation is emerging.Now water is flowing above the gates of the barrage in the canal but the gates have been designed to let the water flow under them and not over them.New pressure on the gates is developing and if one or two gates of the barrage give way, there will be no barrage left.Irrigation officials are in a fix as to how this problem could be tackled while ensuring increased flow into the canals.However, there cannot be a compromise on removing the encroachments within the guide walls and restoring the width of the pond to its designed size. There may be a problem because of the construction of three mosques which may be difficult to remove.An expert, however, believes that in the case of a flood of 500,000 cusec plus, not only these three, but many other mosques situated on the right bank will go under water apart from damaging the barrage.Some analysts believe that changes in the course of the River Indus and decline in the irrigation system had made the conquest of Sindh easy for Mohammad bin Qasim. Experts are also of the view that choking up of the canal’s mouth or falling into the level of the river will create precarious conditions for farmers.Sukkur Barrage is meant to maintain the desired level of water on the upstream side of river. When the water in the river is in excess, surplus must be allowed to flow downstream by raising the gates. When there is shortfall, the flow of water downstream is either reduced or cut off to maintain the desired level on the upstream.
published in Daily Dawn Oct 12, 2008
www.dawn.com
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