Commenting on the situation in a series of tweets, journalist Nazish Brohi said that the floods are a disaster of staggering scale.
The floods are a disaster of staggering scale. But this 'worst natural disaster in Pakistan's history' stuff isn't just wrong, it flags the politics of amnesia.
300,000-500,000 people died in the Bhola cyclone in East Pakistan. & Pk's response to it was abysmal.
— Nazish Brohi (@Nazish_Brohi) September 18, 2022
She said she has worked in disasters in a professional capacity like dozens of other Pakistanis, who are trained and more experienced than her. "Most of them [have] left Pakistan. They are now in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan etc. Because our international agencies have shut down INGOs and told them to leave," she added.
— Nazish Brohi (@Nazish_Brohi) September 17, 2022
Flood relief operations in Sindh have not been effective, Brohi added, due to lack of roads for transport, coordination issues among the government departments, and lack of adequate heavy machinery, among other issues.
Flood relief distribution in Sindh has been terrible. Know why:
1) all pre-plans assumed there'd be roads for transport
2) inventory, calculated by weather predictions, completely inadequate for scale of disaster
3) coordination mess, DCs, elected reps &local admin out of sync,
— Nazish Brohi (@Nazish_Brohi) September 17, 2022
4) court/ threat of inspections holding it up, local admins wont release it
5) people refusing to cluster in official camps (bec of livestock/ saving homes) making access a bigger challenge
6) scattered layout of villages with 40-50 people
7) local govts elected but system not
— Nazish Brohi (@Nazish_Brohi) September 17, 2022
in place
8) lack of adequate heavy machinery & dewatering pumps & equipped boats by NDMA, impeding access
9) supply chain erratic, not secured by prior contracts or international aid distribution mechanisms
10) govt unable to cope with rapidly changing nature of needs such as
— Nazish Brohi (@Nazish_Brohi) September 17, 2022
first rescue, then food & water, then shelter, then mosquito spray & nets, then malaria medicine, then clothing, then birthing facilities, then livestock vaccinations etc.
Blame them, but know what you are blaming them for. Corruption is not the main issue right now.
— Nazish Brohi (@Nazish_Brohi) September 17, 2022
According to reports, the intense floods have displaced over six million people, damaged around 1,697,157 houses, and killed more than 200,000 animals so far.