everal towns and villages in Sindh are still submerged under floodwater. Life is finally returning to its pre-flood routine but at a snail’s pace. The flood has caused colossal damage to public as well as private properties. Millions of lives have been shattered in the affected districts. According to a situation report issued by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority on October 1, 12 million have been affected by the flood. 7.3 million people have had to leave their homes. According to the report, more than 1.8 million houses have been destroyed or partially damaged. Over 8,000 kilometres of roads, 1,749 culverts and 165 bridges have also been destroyed. The rural economy has been devastated by the flood, which has damaged more than 3.7 million acres of arable land and killed 0.43 million livestock. The statistics cannot do justice to the scale of disaster.

Rehabilitation of such a large number of affected people is a daunting task. The challenge is not limited to availability of funds. Repairing this damage in a transparent, fair and efficient manner requires thorough institutional arrangements. The project leaders need to have the capacity to design, coordinate, implement and monitor an array of complex, multi-sectoral and geographically diverse rehabilitation projects. Restoring livelihood sources, reconstructing houses and public utilities and resuscitating collapsed markets in a socially inclusive and technically appropriate manner requires an agile bureaucracy. Data collection, procurement of necessary supplies, provision of cash, social networking and donor management are only some of the key challenges ahead. The capacity of the disaster management system has proven inadequate in the relief phase. The government machinery lacks the ability to fulfil the even more difficult and strenuous task of managing the rehabilitation phase. Rehabilitation cannot be treated as a bunch of new development schemes. There is a dire need to rethink the whole process from an institutional and operational perspective.

An example of such an institutional arrangement was the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) created after a calamitous earthquake in 2005. Following the pattern, it would be appropriate for the government of Sindh to set up a Sindh Flood Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority. The usual processes of decision making, approval and execution are too cumbersome to be employed in disaster response work. The authority should be chaired by the chief minister to prevent delays. A professional with international repute should be assigned the executive role. The first task for the person would be putting together a team of experienced and dynamic professionals. The rehabilitation chief should enjoy complete autonomy. The recruitment process should be competitive.

Rehabilitation of such a large number of affected people is a daunting task. The challenge is not limited to availability of funds. Repairing this damage in a transparent, fair and efficient manner requires thorough institutional arrangements.

The authority should have separate departments for its various functions such as infrastructure reconstruction (using flood-resilient design, constructing/ repairing roads, houses and public facilities), rural economy and livelihood restoration (farm inputs, agriculture/ livestock/ poultry extension services, business grants, credit facility, public-private partnerships, donor mobilisation, skill training and placement), environmental and social compliance unit (fair and inclusive systems, grievances redress, environmental and social impact assessment), technical services unit (procurement, admin, IT services, finance, coordination, monitoring, reporting etc). All these units should be headed and staffed by competent professionals with relevant expertise. There should no compromise on merit. An agile operational structure will be the lynchpin of an effective rehabilitation process. A few factors will be the key to success. These will include recruitment of competent teams, freedom to taking decisions without fear of political interference, continuity of leadership, circumventing bureaucratic barriers by shortening the approval chain, inter-departmental coordination and putting all data in one place with the authority.

Technical and financial support from international aid agencies can be of immense help on account of global experience of post-disaster rehabilitation. Pakistan too has managed large scale disasters in the recent past.

There is an urgent need for developing climate resilient infrastructure and public services to avoid similar havoc in the future. The rehabilitation phase provides an opportunity to the government and civil society to coordinate and align any number of new initiatives within its framework. Sindh is especially vulnerable to natural disasters, being located in the floodplain of the Indus river delta along a 320 kilometres long coastline. The sustainability of rehabilitation initiatives is contingent upon addressing the root causes of recent disasters. Drainage and flood protection systems in Sindh have collapsed under the enormity of the flood. Malfunctioning of the Left Bank and Right Bank Outfall Drains (LBOD and RBOD) has inflicted colossal losses on communities on both sides of Indus. Similarly, flood protection embankments have suffered frequent collapses even during years with average rainfall. Both drains and embankments require a major overhaul. Unless these two holes are plugged, the millions of dollars spent on rehabilitation will be at the risk of being washed away in a future flood. Now is the time to rethink rehabilitation and come up with a fresh approach.

The writer is a development sector professional. He can be reached at nmemon2004@yahoo.com