JUST days after a family of tourists were swept away by flood waters in a scenic resort in Swat Valley of Khyber province, Pakistan experienced an urban disaster on Saturday in Karachi, Sindh, when a five-storey residential building in Lyari collapsed.
As of writing, it is not known how many people were trapped, but 40 to 100 people are said to inhabit the building and latest death toll is 17.
The first disaster took place in the rural wilderness, while the second is right in the middle of an urban hub, a bustling civilization. But in both cases, the authorities proved to be sorely inadequate in possessing the skills required to manage the disaster or to prevent it from happening in the first place.
In Lyari, narrow streets surrounding the building made it difficult for rescue vehicles to reach the scene. But when they did get to executing the highly skilled task of rescuing victims, their conduct was alarming. In the rescue stage of managing disasters like building collapses with victims trapped underneath who are all presumed alive till found dead, the broken material is supposed to be removed very carefully. There are established SOPs for excavating in such circumstances. Human hands are preferred. Absolute silence is maintained. No bystanders are allowed in disaster zone and complete silence is administered among those who must be present.
Traffic within a radius is regulated to prevent noise and vibration pervading the area. But we saw to our horror that rescue workers were using heavy machinery like cranes and were surrounded by a sea of noisy humanity including the media who must be noisy in the process of dispensing their duties.
One witness told media that one concrete block that was lifted was dripping fresh blood underneath it. The whole reason specific SOPs are established for removing debris of a fallen structure with living beings trapped inside are to ensure the injured are rescued alive and not killed in the process. Another manifestation common in both disasters was that authorities put the responsibility on the victims. Provincial government of Khyber province said that the tourists should have adhered to flood warnings and Karachi municipality said that residents of the building were warned years ago that the building was structurally unsafe and that they failed to vacate. In both cases, the responsibility to do the required act lies with the state.
The residents would have had to vacate if the announced deadline for demolishing or retrofitting the building arrived upon them and/or the urban authorities either arranged alternative shelters or declared an appropriate length of time in advance that residents would have to vacate by a given date at their own cost.
—The writer is Director at Pakistan’s People Led Disaster Management.
(shahzebkhansaheb@gmail.com)
