Floods inflict Rs 2bn losses to date palm sector in Balochistan

Early in the morning, Naseer Baloch (35), from district Kech, wakes up and turns towards his farms some one kilometer away from his home. When he reaches, he views the mourning status of half of his farms raged into flood water flowing from the East. Disappointed and shocked, he looks at all his tireless efforts drowning into the flood water and saddens himself thinking of what more damages the flood would bring further, as the weather was yet freaking to invite more troubles for him. He walks back haplessly to his home. The recent floods in Balochistan wreaked havoc by adding more to the social and economic tensions of the masses. Along with the human casualties, thousands of homes have been damaged, while similar losses were observed to the spring (date season) in Makran division of Balochistan. As per National Disaster Management Authorities (NDMA), 2022’s flood snatched 336 lives in Balochistan (149 males, 80 females and 107 children) and injured 187. The report further says that 2,222 kilometers roads got destroyed in the province, 58 bridges, 241,659 homes and 500,000 livestock. The floods had overall affected 32 districts in the province, the report details, causing direct impacts on lives of 9,182,616 people. Amid the growing tensions of floods in the province, the provincial government was found less concerned towards the solution of the issue until very late when the public, with their self-support, began to help the affected people across Balochistan. “Despite the losses, we found non-governmental organizations and other volunteering teams more supportive, while no government officials came to look for us,” says Pari Wash from the devastated Lasbela district following the disastrous floods. She adds that the floods washed everything for them and that they were even thirsty for a box of matches to make a fire for them. “For a box of matches, we had to travel ten kilometers to the main city,” she told me while recalling the post-flood situation. Another reason for the provincial government’s little-but-late attention to the flood-hit regions was the consistent visits of the premier, Shehbaz Sharif, who frequently visited Balochistan’s flood-hit areas to look for the masses and pushed the provincial government to act timely on flood situations. The results end up in many areas which go unreported and the people in such areas do not get the required relief. Makran division of Balochistan is the hub of date season (which comes once in a year from April to July-August). Farmers, with the support of the mentioned season, get fruits and monetary rewards, which enable them to spend the coming few months utilizing the earned money out of the dates, and other fruits and vegetables. In fact, a variety of 130 kinds of dates are produced from Makran which are exported to various other parts of the country and in the foreign countries too, generating more income for the local farmers. “Sending dates and other items outside the province is far, we do not have resources for our living now,” says Naseer Baloch, whose half farms were washed out by the rain waters during the 2022 floods. He asked plenty for debts and was not entertained every time because most of his circle was facing the same problem too. To many other settled people, he could not dare to ask for granting him debts. “We are continuing miserably, but life is going,” he says looking at his 3 year-old daughter sitting beside him. Earlier, Commissioner Makran Shabbir Ahmed Mengal reported losses of farms in Makran division worth 2 billion rupees. However, he was reluctant to respond on support granted by the government or local administration as advised by the prime minister of the country. Contacting the farmers, they say they have received nothing from the administration. Factually and surprisingly, most of the affected families, other than farms ruined, do not know such an announcement was made by the honorable prime minister or the provincial government. And if they know, they do not know where to gain their assistance as the district administrations avoid them when it comes to any larger help as such – excluding rare and reported cases. Qadir, a resident of district Awaran, is one of such examples whose home was largely damaged before Eid (2022), but he still awaits governmental support to rebuild his homes – the other losses of crops and cattle are yet a far cry. “Floods washed away my home, around 1 acre of my gardens and my goats, but neither government nor any other relief-providing team helped me,” Qadir says. When I confirmed this from DC Jameel Ahmed of Awaran, he informed me that they were destined to provide the monetary compensation to the grieving families, adding that the government had lengthy procedures for cashing out the required amounts. “Other than amounts, we have rendered tents and other preliminary support to all the affected families on time,” says DC. The masses in Balochistan feel things could only have been different if the government took early actions to avoid injuries caused until now. For instance, when the floods had caused early losses, the government could take measures to keep the masses away from such areas where they were likely to be affected by floods. Sadly, it seemed that the government was never concerned about the floods in the region which enhanced the losses of precious lives of the people, including harms to their homes and other assets.