With the beginning of moon soon season, disaster monitoring organizations start promoting safety measures as well as on radio and TV, especially in that rainy month it is commonly understood to stay away from electric wires and safe the houses form water drains water.
Accualy we live in a country in which human mistakes are forgotten as written by nature and we do not go through the process of learning from it due to which we have to face such a strange tragedies. Even at the government level, such incidents are not taken seriously, instead of political statements of sympathy are issued as much as possible in order to maintain their influence in regional politics.
Yesterday, a similar heartbreaking incident took place in Kohat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 11 people sleeping in the basement died when the water accumulated during the heavy rain entered the house. According to local rescue officials, rainwater entered the house in Parana Bazikhel area of Dara Adam Khel, where 11 members of the same family in the basement died due to the water entering the house. The dead people were sleeping in the basement of the house when the water drowned them in their own house, which caused the deaths. So far, 11 bodies have been recovered while the search for one girl is ongoing.
Sources say that among those who drowned in the basement, there are 6 children, 3 women and 2 men from the same family. This is not the first incident of human carelessness in Pakistan nevertheless we see such incidents today. Responsibilities are imposed on the government to prevent such incidents but it is also the responsibility of the citizens to ensure their own safety.
It is the government’s job to enforce the construction code throughout the country and not allow any brick building, basement or other self-constructed dwellings unless a building plan is approved by the government authority, so the incidents of falling roofs and collapsing buildings can be reduced.
The irony is that there are the best laws in this regard in the country but due to the collusion of the officers and the negligence of the citizens these laws are not followed that leads to such incidents.
There are departments in every district to ensure maps of buildings but it has been observed that often the field inspectors give permission to construct houses or buildings without plans for a few rupees. When the strong effects of storms and rains take effect, then these buildings either collapse or incidents like Kohat occurred. Therefore, it is necessary that such non-standard construction is not allowed at the government level and the violators should be severely punished so their lives could be protected.
If the above incident is reviewed, it is clear from the pictures released in the media that the said basement was built without any planning and there was no provision to prevent water from entering it due to which such a big tragedy happened. If the corridor and the sides of the basement were strengthened and it was kept above the yard, it might have been saved but it did not happen and this tragedy came to light which is very sad. However we must learn from that and take a pledge that whenever we construct buildings, we must think about how to protect them from heavy rains or flood waters.
The Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should take notice of the said tragedy and should announce the assistance of the effected family and along with this the investigation of this tragedy is also necessary so that the reasons for it can be brought out on the basis of which such incidents can be avoided in the future. It is hoped that the Chief Minister will issue orders for this purpose and new construction SOPs will be issued on the basis of the said tragedy so as to be safe from such incidents in the future. If it is ensue then we will not be able to get rid of such deadly tragedies in the future.
