Planning failures

While natural calamities resulting from climatic changes and extreme weather conditions are not Pakistan’s fault as the country does not contribute much to global warming, there are certain things that are in our control. From Swat to Sehwan, the recent floods have affected vast areas and destroyed infrastructure and properties. Had the builders not violated some basic laws and avoided encroaching upon waterways – which should always be without obstruction – the damage could have been much less. Just to take River Swat as an example, we have seen buildings washed away like they were made of cardboard. Most of these buildings, including multi-level hotels, were built along River Swat. How could they manage to get away with this? Perhaps the bureaucracy helped them, or their owners’ political clout twisted some arms to get approvals and no-objection certificates (NOCs). There is a law in place – the River Protection Act 2014 – that every bureaucrat and official of the building-control authorities should have read and followed before granting permission to illegal construction in or close to the river bed. Per some reports, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa most of these constructions have taken place since 2013 when the PTI assumed control of the provincial government.

In the past nearly one decade, there have been countless reconstructions and renovations of damaged illegal infrastructure. Interestingly, the PTI government itself had enacted the law but soon after this became an act, gross violations of rules and regulation started taking place. The law clearly stipulates that no building construction is to take place within the limits between the banks of a river. In gross violation of the law, hundreds of structures emerged on river banks and some even in the middle of the river bed. According to the law, there was a provision for setting up special courts to try such violators but the provision was ignored. In the absence of such courts illegal building construction thrived on encroached land. This issue is not only confined to KP alone; in other provinces too there are laid down criteria for construction in low-lying areas.

A clearance from environment protection agencies is necessary in all provinces but hardly any provincial or district government follows the rules. NOCs from the highway authorities and irrigation departments are also bypassed or circumvented. Most of the bridges and roads that have been swept away could have survived the water flows if proper soil testing reports and structural fitness certificates were obtained in a proper manner. In low-lying areas prone to floods and gushing waters both in rural and urban areas certain standards must be maintained. Bridges and roads must be high and robust enough to withstand floods. When authorities ignore such fundamental criteria, blaming nature for all devastation is not justified. There has been negligence on the part of highway authorities and district management. Local administration cannot simply absolve itself in such tragedies. In many cases, the relevant authorities just issue notices and do nothing concrete to prevent such constructions. After these floods, stringent measures are required to regulate building construction and other development projects that on paper look good but have a harmful impact later on.