LAHORE - The worst ever flood has hit the Punjab but no substantial involvement of PML-N legislators and ministers have been witnessed in the relief and rescue activities. While Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif appears carrying out the flood relief operation single handedly, although his party enjoys the support of 300 members in the provincial assembly and a good number of ministers in the federal cabinet also belong to his province.
Claiming to have been unaware of the repeatedly pre-warned deluge coming to hit the province, the government lacked preparedness for the flooding. The Meteorological Department, a month ago, informed the government in black and white about the imminent danger.
Shocked over two contradictory standpoints, the people, being always forgiving and hopeful, were of the view that all men in power would put their best foot forward to meet the challenge and mend for the original negligence.
But it was only the chief minster along with the administrative officers who was seen taking care of food, boats, tents, cattle feed and others for the affected people in flood-hit areas.
The PML-N chief and prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, also kept himself abreast with the situation through air-visits to the affected areas. Though affectees are growing in discontent and distress, all hands must act.
But legislators and ministers are mysteriously being absent from the scene except some who are either monitoring supply of relief goods through a Cabinet Committee or busy updating the media on the situation but quite practically it is only the CM everywhere.
Hovering over the calamity-hit areas in his chopper somewhere, Shahbaz Sharif is throwing down relief goods; somewhere else he is present to monitor food supply, rescue work, availability of medicines and presence of the administrative staff and the medical staff. But hardly a single representative of people has been found accompanying him or doing the same for the ill-fated people, although they had made tall claims of serving the poor in the election campaigns.
And the question arises that why not the Members, the party office bearers and workers showed up or activated after the CM and the PM had described the calamity historic and devastation unprecedented? Why not they were motivated to take part in relief activities, fund raising and reach to the affected areas with food and truckloads of relief as it was witnessed in the quake of October 2005? Whether they lacked will or they were not allowed to share their efforts and kept out of the picture to make the activity person-specific is a vital question which strikes the observing minds.
Some reports also suggest that even local representatives of the flood-affected areas were not present in most of the places, even though they were strictly instructed by the CM to act as team with the administrative officers to escalate the relief to the affectees. It is another painful fact that at some places, the CM caught the administrative offices napping who rushed to set up medical and food camps only on learning about his arrival. The officers also put to display food cauldrons, which were found empty of anything after the CM had left. Had elected representatives been pushed to relief work, things would have been managed in a proper manner, say observers.
The heaviest ever deluge of nine lakh cusecs feet, while passing through the heart of Punjab, has directly affected 18 districts of the province with Gujranwala, Lahore and Multan the worst. The water gush has caused huge losses, both in terms of men and material, in around 2000 villages and 200 towns of Punjab while about two million people have been rendered shelter less due to the catastrophe.