By Mian Haroon Masood
Sorry, there have been reports coming in since morning about heavy water discharges through the dams. The flood situation is grim. Water from continuous rains is pouring down, and rivers are swelling rapidly. To make matters worse, India has opened its floodgates, unleashing unstoppable torrents. The raging rivers have caused widespread destruction as dykes and embankments burst open. Many villages have been swept away, breaches have appeared, and our rivers — mainly Ravi, Chenab, and Sutlej — are in heavy flood.
This is happening almost every year now, yet nothing seems to work. It feels like nature’s wrath, but in truth, poor planning has worsened the impact. Undue reclamation of land near rivers is proving disastrous, and when the water comes, it bulldozes everything in its path. We have done little to prevent disasters of this scale. It is unwise to sit idle and wait for calamity to break out before scrambling to respond.
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The army is doing its best. Personnel have rescued 22,000 stranded people, along with countless cattle and belongings. Still, we fail to learn from past events or improve future strategies. Once again, water is everywhere, all around us.
Authorities must study river patterns and develop long-term solutions. The Netherlands, after decades of struggle, successfully overcame similar challenges through effective planning and execution. In contrast, we have slackened in our preparedness, failing to anticipate the real threat of rains and flooding. For years, the Ravi and Sutlej flowed at moderate levels, not breaching alarming limits. This time, however, the waters rushed down with unprecedented ferocity, catching us unprepared.
The solution does not lie in building more dams, but in constructing canals and barrages to divert waters when necessary. Punjab, known for its lush and fertile plains, cannot rely on dams alone. Funds must instead be used to strengthen dykes in every district. Our focus should be on building resilient infrastructure, removing blockages in waterways, and replacing flawed stopgap measures with a robust system.
Above all, the priority must be to save the lives of poor communities, whose only livelihood depends on cattle or small patches of agriculture. Most of them live in abject poverty, eking out a fragile living under already humble circumstances.
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It cannot be stressed enough: streamlining our hydrological management is essential. Trees must be planted urgently, with schools — both government and private — required to plant a fixed number every year. Trees are the lungs of the earth, and we must stop choking water channels with blockages, allowing rivers to flow freely to their endpoints.
The mushrooming of unplanned residential societies is another curse. Instead of horizontal expansion, vertical buildings should be encouraged to reduce pressure on land and improve urban planning.
Let’s have a national consensus over building dams in the development areas this time and the time is right for taking this type of decisions. There are many dams in India, and we are no match to them, so let’s start making dams or at least have consensus making this our main priority. Our major funds must go towards building dams or barrages, other than that it’s all waste. Every year the floods come, and they destroy everything so the best bet would be to reinforce the existing structure or maybe build more with a renewed spirit.
The Prime Minister must take ownership of this issue, adopt a holistic plan, monitor its progress closely, and reconstruct systems where needed. Fighting over trivial politics serves no purpose. A national consensus is essential, with all stakeholders brought together. A dedicated conference on one subject alone — to save the country from devastating floods — must be convened. No further agenda is needed.
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