here is a saying among the fishing community of Sindh: a river does not forget its course; it comes back. The recent floods have left millions of people in Sindh homeless. Many towns and cities are still inundated. The monsoon rains broke all records. However, most people believed that if water made its way to their homes, the authorities would take care of it and them. Unfortunately, the authorities could not manage a timely rescue. Many people saw their towns drown before their eyes.

Khairpur Nathan Shah is still under water. All its residents have been displaced. They hope to return to their homes some day. The district administration has issued an alert for an impending threat of flood. They have asked rural and urban populations of Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Johi towns to immediately move to safer places. On Monday evening, district officials warned the people of Dadu that floodwater was a mere three kilometres away from the city. A newspaper report said Deputy Commissioner Syed Murtaza Ali Shah has asked assistant commissioners and mukhtiarkars of the towns to help shift people to safe places.

This is only the second time Khairpur Nathan Shah has submerged. Nearby Johi is still threatened. Its citizens are trying to protect Johi which will drown in case of any breach in the Ring bund. The bund is being strengthened without any help from government officials.

After the recent climate carnage, the process of rehabilitation of displaced people is challenging. The Sindh government has already said it will take three to six months to drain water from the affected areas. Draining water is not the same as rehabilitation of the displaced people.

Life in camps pitched for the displaced people is getting worse. Many children and women are suffering from skin diseases, malaria, diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases. In the coming days, they will be facing food shortages. The government and some social and religious organisations have been distributing rice among them.

There is a heavy reliance on foreign aid. But rarely will effort be put in to prepare for such calamities. Relying on foreign aid after a flood is not flood management; it is this mismanagement that has led to the massive destruction. Environment and climate change have hardly ever been a government’s priority. The subject has always been neglected.

Some influential landlords control the low-lying lands. When water is not allowed to take its course, it spreads across Sindh, flooding lands and communities.

Once natural disasters cause widespread destruction, the authorities wake up to the fact that the scale has been beyond their expectations. Flood-hit people are agitating and complaining about ill treatment by their elected representatives.

The people of Sindh had witnessed great destruction during the 2010 floods. In the past twelve years, experts, institutions and government(s) have hardly tried to focus on flood management. The government did finally make a decision about Manchhar Lake; by then it was already too late.

The destruction in the recent floods has largely been due to human error. Low-lying lands through which natural drains flow are in the control of influential landlords. When water cannot run its natural course it spreads across Sindh, flooding vast lands and communities. There is no proper or natural way to drain water on an emergency basis. Naokot and Jhudo cities are currently at high risk. Many people from Dadu had begged the authorities to clear obstructions to the natural flow of water from the Dhoro Puran Outfall Drain but their cries fell on deaf ears.

The Indus River has swept through dams, encroachments and riverbed residential schemes. The common perception apparently had been that the river had dried up and would never flow again. Disregard of the natural drains has brought destruction and misery.

Some people still believe that Pakistan’s irrigation system is one of the best in the world. However, many attempts have been made over the past seven decades to alter the natural course of water. More attention needs to be paid to modern irrigation systems.

The contrived irrigation and drainage system is no longer safe and beneficial. If we keep making the same mistakes, will we ever get better results?

Serious thought needs to be given to avoid such cataclysmic disasters. Allowing the river to flow unimpeded may be better for the ecosystem and the environment. Besides engaging technical experts, we should also listen to the folk wisdom. The folks are familiar with the river’s rage.

The writer is a fiction writer, blogger and journalist