Another winter of discontent

Another winter of discontent
AS if rising inflation and growing political instability were not enough, winter has struck with such severity in the northern and other regions of the country that routine life in many parts has come to a virtual standstill. At least six people have died in the bitter cold of southern Punjab while an unspecified number of deaths have been reported from the Northern Areas where hospitals admitting patients with winter-related ailments are without adequate heating. Heavy snowfall and rains have restricted access to better medical amenities, and the supply of basic facilities like food, fuel and water has been badly affected. Matters are equally precarious for the internally displaced. These include the 2005 quake survivors, many of whom, despite some progress in reconstruction, are still living in tent villages as construction work remains affected by the extreme weather.While record low temperatures are being registered this winter at various places, it is not as if freezing weather is an unknown phenomenon in the country. Knowing its repercussions for populations ill equipped to deal with it, why didn’t the government ensure that its medical outlets, especially in remote areas, were stocked with sufficient medicine to administer to patients of pneumonia and other respiratory, winter-related illnesses, and that there was a regular supply of food? Prices of fuel, including firewood, have also gone up and the government has failed to keep these in check. Local communities may be able to brave this winter and get through it as they have been doing for so many years. But the government cannot afford to show complacency. It must have a crisis management plan in hand to ensure that such weather does not cause hardship to the people in future. Additionally, it should profit from experience and be making contingency plans for the time when the snows melt, worsening the threat of floods in riverine areas.
(Courtesy Dawn Editorial page)