Breach of trust People’s experiences of the Pakistan floods and their aftermath, July 2010 – July 2011 Michael Semple Dedicated to growing awakening of flood affected women and men against tyranny and injustices and their untiring resilience to rebuild their lives. Book compilation team 1st Edition September 2011 ISBN: 978-969-9338-03-8 Author: Michael Semple Copyright © Pattan Development Organization Content analysis of opinion articles & editing: Yameema Mitha All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or Proof reading & editing: transmitted, in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or Aimen Bucha otherwise without the prior written permission of Pattan. Field survey: Benjamin Barkat Pattan wishes to thank all media agencies, photographers whose photographs and press clippings and Alyia Bano have been reproduced and used for analysis for the book. Composition and designing: Price: Rs. 500 William Pervez Pattan Development Organization Project leader: House # 5, St. 58, F-10/3, Islamabad, Pakistan Sarwar Bari Tel: +92-51-2299494, 2211875 Fax: +92-51-2291547 Printed at: E-mail: [email protected] PanGraphics (Pvt) Ltd. Website: www.pattan.org Islamabad Disclaimer The opinions expressed in this book do not represent the official policy of the donor organization “Our starving children are crying, flood has punished us rigorously, Deaf are our rulers, they do not listen flood-ravaged cries” Riaz Ahmad Waqif (Muzaffargarh) Flood Affected Areas Map 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS vii Page Foreword i Acknowlegements iii 1 Introduction 1 2 Narrative of the 2010 floods 5 2.1 The master narrative 6 2.2 Local flood narrative : the Peshawar valley 11 2.3 Local flood narrative – the upper Indus and districts Mianwali, Bhakkar and Layyah 16 2.4 Local flood narrative : breach flood in Muzaffargarh 19 2.5 Local flood narrative : the right bank breach flood in Kashmore and neighbouring districts of Sindh and Baluchistan 23 2.6 Local flood narrative: in the tail of the Tori breach flood, on right bank of the Indus lower stretch (Larkana, Shahdadkot, Dadu, Jamshoro) 27 2.7 Local flood narrative : breach flooding of the mouth of the Indus, left and right bank, Thatta District 31 3 Response 35 3.1 Preparation and forecasting 36 3.2 Rescue 36 3.3 Managing the flood waters 38 3.4 Relief & Adequacy of Relief Measures 42 3.5 The Watan Card Scheme 55 3.6 Performance of the different actors, charity and voluntarism 67 3.7 The sideshow of the Islamist organizations 68 3.8 Experience of internally displaced camps 69 4 Perspectives of flood-affected communities - the case of Muzaffargarh 73 4.1 Introduction and methodology 74 4.2 Profile of the affected population 74 4.3 Nature of damage and losses 75 4.4 Flood warning and displacement 76 4.5 Local causes of flooding and attribution of blame… 77 4.6 CNIC, Watan Cards, banking and house reconstruction 77 4.7 Crime, dignity and social relations 79 4.8 Agricultural inputs and agricultural recovery 80 4.9 Recovery expectations 80 4.10 Attitudes to INGOs 80 4.11 Attitudes to external actors and political representatives 81 4.12 Assessment of government departments 82 5 Issues, Gaps and Concerns 85 5.1 The institutional infrastructure – the issue of local government 86 5.2 What it means for poverty 87 5.3 Public order and crime 87 Page 5.4 Controversies around the breaches 91 5.5 The issue of flood plain management 93 5.6 Understanding the causes of the floods 94 5.7 Political mobilisation by flood affectees 95 6 Economic impact of the floods 103 7 What the press says? 109 7.1 Summary 110 7.2 Content analysis of English dailies 110 7.3 List of Op-Ed articles analysed 118 8 Conclusions and recommendations 123 9 Appendices 131 9.1 Resources 131 9.2 Findings and recommendations from civil society experience- sharing on the floods 132 9.3 Terms of Reference of the Supreme Court Commission of Inquiry 137 9.4 Pattan mentioned in the Judicial flood commission report 138 9.5 Glossary 140 List of Tables 1: Indus riparian districts of Punjab and Sindh provinces 8 2: Muzaffargarh versus Layyah District, “What if” Scenario 22 3: Showing irrigation structures and flood losses 32 4: All Pakistan flood losses, as of 10 January 2011 33 5: Progress in Watan Card scheme, Phase 1 to May 2011 56 6: Watan Card allocations to vulnerable groups 57 7: Institutional affiliation of IDP camp managers in Sindh and IDPs they are responsible for 72 8: Ecological zone, MZF survey 74 9: Patterns of displacement 76 10: Stated reasons for not receiving Watan Card (male) 78 11: Procedural difficulties in obtaining Watan Card 78 12: Access to bank facilities 79 13: Progress on house reconstruction 79 14: Difficulties faced by Watan Card holders in accessing funds 79 15: Perceptions of why INGOs help? 80 16: Effect on attitude of experience of INGO assistance 80 17: Who respondents blame overall for the flood disaster 81 18: Whether people blame disaster on nature or human agency 81 19: Whether in new election respondents would vote for the same party? 82 20: Whether in new election respondents would vote for the same candidate? 82 21: Whether functional local government would have made it easier to cope with the flood? 82 Page 22: Ranking of institutions by approval ratings 83 23: Sources of income for the richest 20% and poorest 20% of the rural population 107 List of Figures 1: Will you vote for the same candidate in the next elections? i 2: Schematic diagram of Indus Basin Irrigation System 9 3: Periods of high flood in Indus basin, flood season 2010 10 4: Non-institutional setting. 76 5: Institutional setting. 76 6: Women in receipt of Watan Card. 78 7: Men in receipt of Watan Card. 78 8: Procedural difficulties 78 9: Agency blamed for flood disaster 81 10: Will you vote for the same party in next elections? 82 11: Will you vote for the same candidate in next elections? 82 12: Frequency of issues highlighted 110 List of Maps and Source 1: Flood affected areas UN-OCHA f 2: Map of Peshawar Valley UN-OCHA 12 3: Map of North-West Punjab UN-OCHA 17 4: Map of Muzaffargarh UN-OCHA 19 5: Sketch map of the Taunsa - Muzaffargarh floods UN-OCHA 21 6: Map of Upper Sindh UN-OCHA 23 7: Map of right bank of Indus lower stretch UN-OCHA 27 8: Map of Thatta UN-OCHA 31 9: Map of Muzaffargarh tehsils UN-OCHA 75 List of Photos and Sources Cover page: http://blogs.state.gov 2: http://jjexon.hubpages.com 1 3: http://www.wfp.org 7 4: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov 13 5: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov 14 6: http://www.flickr.com 20 7: http://www.sharifpost.com 24 8: http://www.pakrelief.org 32 9: http://news.nationalgeographic.com 33 10: http://www.pakrelief.org 32 11: http://www.pakrelief.org 32 Page 12: http://www.pakrelief.org 33 13: http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net 33 14: http://www.zimbio.com 33 15: http://www.pakrelief.org 33 16: http://www.amazingonly.com 35 17: http://www.upi.com 36 18: http://forum.pakistanidefence.com 37 19: http://www.nation.com.pk 38 20: Pattan 40 21: http://thepbeye.probonoinst.org 43 22: Pattan 46 23: Pattan 49 24: http://www.wfp.org 50 25: http://abitatproperty.wordpress.com 52 26: Pattan. JamaatulDawa banner showing its relief work 53 27: http://fromoffshore.wordpress.com 54 28: Pattan. Rally of flood affected women demanding Issuance of Watan Card. 55 29: Pattan. Flood affectees demanding transparency in relief distribution. 56 30: Pattan. Mukhtar Mai addressing flood affectees’ assembly. 60 31: Pattan. TBSZ demo demanding issuance of 2nd tranche of Watan Card money. 62 32: Pattan. Picture of Naisr 66 33: http://www.karachidigest.com 67 34: Pattan. Mercy Malaysia-Pattan sharing details of hygiene kits with flood affectees 68 35: Pattan. Damaged school books 69 36 : http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net 70 37: Pattan. Affectees made to fight over relief goods. 71 38: Pattan. Banner reads ‘respect dignity of flood affectees.’ 72 39: Pattan. Flood affectee children demanding of Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Punjab to provide education, schoolbooks and Watan Cards for their parents 73 40: http://www.monstersandcritics.com 85 41: http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com People are made to fight over relief items. 87 42: Picture was taken by Daniel Berehulak 88 43: Pattan. Mud house under construction. 91 44: http://rockthetruth2.blogspot.com 94 45: http://i1.tribune.com.pk Chasma Barrage. 95 46: Pattan. TBSZ women demanding issuance of 2nd tranche of Watan Card. 97 47: Pattan. Rani Waheeda: TBSZ activist. 99 48: Pattan. Layya: Bare footed Latif Ansari Convenor TBSZ leading a procession of flood affectees. 100 49: Pattan. Showing destruction of sugarcane fields. 103 50: Pattan. Showing damage to household items. 104 51: Showing damage to sewing machines and other items. 105 52: Pattan. Showing bull cart on a newly constructed wall 106 53: Pattan. Newspaper collage 109 54: http://www.newslinemagazine.com 123 55: Pattan. Multan. TSBZ women participating in a rally prior to a sit-in in front of PM Gilani’s house 129 FOREWORD Both the Pakistani state and its political Buksh, a resident of one of the worst hit leadership appear to be suffering from villages of Muzaffargarh, exposed the dis- chronic ‘boiling frog syndrome’. In 2005 illusionment with the ruling feudal elite when a massive earthquake hit the coun- in a profound way: “I lost everything that I try, many of us who have been working had – my belongings, my house, my cattle, with disasters for many years, thought my bedding, important documents.