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Disaster replayed

Thursday, Sep 01, 2022

It is in times of adversity that we learn what our leaders are really made of. Claims of being saviours and serving the people are put to the test. The leaders of Pakistan have been tested and found wanting. The fact is that successive governments failed to learn the lessons from the 2010 floods, and build dikes and embankments in the areas prone to seasonal flooding, nor were there any improvements to our disaster response and management mechanisms.

As a result, in a repeat of the 2010 crisis, excess rainfall has caused severe flooding across the nation. Yet again, the enormity of the suffering appears to have had no impact on the behaviour of our politicians, who remain busy accusing and undermining each other and the state institutions during this crucial time.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore