Avalanche and rain disasters

This week turned out to be worst in extreme weather days in the northern areas particularly Chitral as an avalanche came tumbling down on a small village, burying several houses. At least nine people, including a soldier at the Chitral Scouts post in Arandu tehsil, were killed. According to those carrying out rescue operations, the number of casualties could be higher since it was not known how many people were present in the area at the time the avalanche hit. Rain-related incident claimed another five lives in KPK and Fata. In the neighbouring Afghanistan's central and south-eastern provinces the devastation was on a much higher scale. More than 100 lives perished when avalanches struck destroying scores of homes, and blocking roads making it difficult for rescue workers to help the victims.
This death and devastation cannot be simply accepted as a natural calamity. For the fact is that long spells of snowfall coupled with human activity are known to increase the chances of an avalanche. In this instance, it had been going on for four consecutive days, causing a snow build-up. Timely warning and evacuation by the concerned authorities could have prevented the loss of life as well as possessions of the affected community. Unfortunately, however, they have a habit of getting active after the fact. The warning of the impending danger came on the fourth day, that too from an NGO working on natural disasters rather than the relevant branch of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). A majority of the residents paying heed to the warning had moved to safe places when the avalanche came. Those who stayed back, perhaps, had nowhere to go. Had the NDMA and the local administration helped them shift to safety the loss of life could have been averted.
The tragedy is a stark reminder of imminent disasters that are waiting to happen in the wake of climate change unless governments at the Centre and in the provinces get their respective act together. It may be recalled that last year, northern areas were hit by heavy rains leading to floods and landslides. Thousands of homes were damaged and roads closed hindering rescue work. Much of it is the result of blatant destruction of trees, which absorb rainwater and hold the soil together, preventing land from sliding along the slopes. Things are to aggravate unless urgent preventive measures are undertaken. Towards that end, the KPK government has taken the lead adopting practical steps, starting reforestation with its billion trees campaign and banning - to prevent illegal logging - even some of the normally required tree cutting. Last year, the federal government too announced the launch of "Green Pakistan programme" under which 100 million trees are to be planted over a five-year period, and forest areas reclaimed and developed. The other three provinces need to do their part to increase the tree cover. Also, reservoirs should be constructed to store excess rainwater, turning its destructive force to constructive power to be used for productive purposes.