In view of the recent flood disaster, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has finally sprang into action and ordered removal of existing encroachments along riverbanks and waterways and slapped a total ban on such construction activities that might block irrigation canals and other natural watercourses.
The decision has been apparently taken as the province, and the entire country for that matter, has been reeling from the aftermaths of the deluge and to prevent any losses in case of rains and flash flooding or other natural disasters, like earthquakes and land-sliding in future.
There are not two views among weather experts that the climate crisis has reached a point of no return and that the natural disasters have grown and would grow further in frequency and intensity due to illegal human intervention in the natural processes.
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and elsewhere in the country, all rivers, canals and natural watercourses have become easy prey for the encroachers, who, as the recent floods have exposed, have erected massive buildings with less regard for the law of the land.
According to flood estimates, over 1000 commercial buildings and hotels have been washed away in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone when all big and small rivers swelled and swept away illegal constructions along their banks. The massive flood also destroyed road network, destroyed entire villages and inundated vast tracts of farmlands.
The losses from the rains and flood have been ascribed to natural phenomenon, but the effects of the disaster were aggravated by illegal and unchecked human activities which have playing havoc with riverbanks, canals, forests and other natural resources of the country.
The provincial government seems to have put its act together and decided to clear the rivers and canals from encroachments so that losses which might occur due to natural disasters in future could be minimized.
The province’s own Rivers Protection (Amended) Act 2014 strictly prohibits construction of hotels, houses and other projects within a distance of 200 feet of the rivers. However, the recent flooding showed that the law was put into total disregard before allowing and actually carrying out constructions on the riverbanks and in the riverbeds.
The massive rainfall in August swelled the Swat river and it wiped out constructions and encroachments along its banks, which had not only obstructed its flow when the flood struck, but they also triggered flash flooding damaging properties along its trail.
The situation looks grimly worrisome and raises questions as to why government departments overlooked the illegal construction activities which flourished for decades. It needs thorough soul searching on part of the government and the relevant departments to fix the responsibility for the existing encroachments before going ahead with implementing the river protection law to save lives and properties in future.
