Record rain, snowfall paralyse life in NWFP

A record snowfall in upper parts and heavy downpour accompanied by hailstorm in the plains, paralysed life in the Frontier province on Monday.
Upper and Lower Dir, Swat, Shangla and the Bajaur tribal region witnessed a record snowfall after decades, triggering a punishing cold wave as mercury plunged to below zero degree Celsius.
Upper parts of the province remained cut off from the rest of the country because of the heavy snowfall and all main and link roads were impassable. The snowfall also knocked out power and telecommunication systems in several parts of the province.
Peshawar, Swabi, Nowshera, Mardan and other districts received heavy rains, turning the weather cold and chilly.
Incessant and heavy snowfall over the last 24 hours in Upper Dir broke an 18-year record as the town received 2.6 feet of snow. Mountainous areas received around six feet of snow, bringing life to a standstill.
The district administration has ordered closure of all schools for a week and postponed a polio drive in the district.
The snowfall began on Sunday and continued the whole day on Monday in and around Dir town, dumping up to two-and-a-half feet of snow. Thal, Doog Darra, Kalkot, Barikot, Qulandi, Lowari, Barawal and Dobando received up to six feet of snow.
Dir received rains and heavy snowfall after a long dry spell. All upper parts of the district have been cut off from the rest of the country. Roads to Qulandi, Dobando, Barawal, Girgat, Sharingal, Thal, Kalkot and other areas have been closed for all kinds of traffic. The bad weather also played havoc with electricity, leaving several areas without electricity. The Dir-Peshawar road was blocked for all kind of traffic. Attendance at government offices remained very thin.
Locals said the snowfall began at 6am and continued till late night. One foot of snow was recorded at Timergara headquarters and other plain areas.
They said it was the heaviest snowfall after 1962, forcing over 800,000 people of the district to remain indoors.
The Peshawar-Chitral highway and all link roads remained closed, inconveniencing commuters. Uprooted trees and poles littered the highway.
In Swat, mercury dropped to minus five degrees. Markets in Mingora city and adjoining areas remained closed.
According to reports, 13 feet of snow was recorded in Kalam, 15 to 18 feet in Atrorh, Gabral, and Osho, three feet in Bahrain and 10 to 12 feet in Malam Jabba, Miandam and Murghzar.
There were also reports of damage to houses and buildings. The Silk Mills building on Bamakhela road was destroyed.
Heavy snowfall was also recorded in Shangla district. One foot of snow was recorded in Alpuri, four feet at Shangla top and six feet on Wengo top.
In Bajuar, people said such a heavy snowfall was recorded after 20 years. The snowfall began at 11am and continued till 3pm.
In Swabi, hailstones and torrential rain lashed different parts of the district at night and early in the morning, causing suspension of power supply and damage to standing crops.
Over the last two weeks, it was the second time that hailstones pounded different regions of the district.

Tourism policy 2010

THE government has said that the National Tourism Policy 2010 is on the anvil. One hopes it will be unveiled soon. The fact is that there is a lot of potential for tourism in Pakistan if it is properly tapped, given the rich cultural, archaeological and natural heritage the country possesses. These have drawn travellers from all over the world, and can attract more if the tourism infrastructure is efficiently organised and vigorous promotion campaigns are launched. Tourists, although greatly reduced in number, have continued to visit this country in spite of a weak tourism strategy and the dangers of terrorism. It would be criminal now to neglect this sector. The number of foreign tourists entering Pakistan grew steadily in the years 2003-06 when it touched a record high of almost 900,000. Thereafter it has been on the decline. Earnings from this source fell from $260m in 2006 to $243m in 2008. It is, therefore, an encouraging sign that the government is seeking to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by conflict — especially in Swat — and is offering incentives.

Since there are many areas that are relatively secure, such as the Kalash valleys, Gilgit, the Galiyat, the archaeological sites of the Indus valley, the Gorakh hill station and the beaches of the Arabian Sea it is important that the new policy focus on them to give a new fillip to tourism in Pakistan. The strategy should aim at bringing domestic tourism in its loop by promoting modest travel costs and adequate board and lodging facilities. The revival of tourism can offer many advantages apart from the increased economic earnings it would fetch the country. A rise in the number of tourists coming from abroad would help improve the country’s image. Both domestic and foreign tourists would also boost the sectors related to tourism, such as local crafts and the catering industry.

Social protection

A case of embezzlement unearthed recently in Rawalpindi and involving Baitul Mal funds to the tune of Rs8.3m represents another challenge to the credibility of our social protection network. There is already a perception that the benefits of the Baitul Mal are not reaching the poorest segments.
In this case, an investigation has been launched and five people — three belonging to the administrative staff of a public hospital, the other two owners of medical stores — have been arrested. The five were allegedly involved in processing fake cases of medical treatment to obtain Baitul Mal grants. With the assistance of the FIA, the Baitul Mal is investigating the likelihood of similar cases in other hospitals.Unfortunately, those tasked with monitoring social assistance have not been successful in ensuring that aid reaches the most marginalised and vulnerable sections of society. For instance, ours was one of two countries in the world with a compulsory zakat deduction scheme, but the latter has seen a reduction in contributions in recent years, especially since the option to bypass the government scheme is now available to those who want to make private donations. Meanwhile, gender bias in our social safety network has led to the creation of the Benazir Income Support Programme, to dispense cash assistance directly and regularly to needy women and their families.With corruption endemic in so many government institutions tasked with social protection, it is clear that more resources will pour into only those that ensure transparency and efficiency. Eliminating corruption and careful scrutiny of applications are necessary to ensuring the effectiveness of the social safety network. Selecting deserving applicants and reviewing the eligibility of existing recipients entails widening the national database system to cover the nearly 13 million people without national identity cards. Also required is the development of efficient databases to facilitate cross-checking of recipients.

A life lived well

With the death on Sunday of veteran politician and renowned Pushto writer Ajmal Khattak, the country has lost one of its most committed political workers and prolific Pushto writers. A vocal advocate of the rights of the Pakhtun people, Khattak told this newspaper last year: “I am deeply concerned about the political situation in South Asia; what is being done against the Pakhtuns troubles me more than my illness.”
He had, indeed, spent a lifetime working for his people through both politics and literature. Influenced by the Khudai Khidmatgars, he worked for the Quit India movement and joined the Awami National Party after partition, of which he was president twice. He was the stage secretary at the 1973 Liaquat Bagh rally of the United Democratic Front, when UDF leaders were fired upon.
As a prominent figure of what was then the National Awami Party, Khattak was wanted by the Federal Security Force and went into self-imposed exile in Afghanistan in 1973. He returned to Pakistan in 1989 when the Awami National Party, the successor of the NAP, entered into an electoral alliance with the IJI. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1990, and became a senator in 1994. Khattak’s written work reflects the principles of a committed Marxist-Leninist. He is widely considered to have brought Pushto poetry in line with modern poetic trends. There, too, his subject matter was the exploitation and oppression of his people; his first collection of poetry, Da Ghairat Chagha, published in 1958, was banned in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The continued relevance of Khattak’s work is evident in the fact that his poems continue to be sung at progressive parties’ meetings. Khattak’s politics were characterised by an amalgam of reason and dedication to principles. With his passing, we have lost an important voice of sanity in these turbulent times.

UN calls for aid pledges for displaced Pakistanis

The United Nations led an appeal Tuesday for millions of dollars to feed and assist more than one million people displaced by conflict in Pakistan's northwest and in border areas with Afghanistan.
The appeal focuses on funds needed to implement the Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan (PHRP) 2010, which the United Nations, international and local aid groups have drawn up with the cash-strapped Pakistan government.
“The PHRP requires 537 million dollars for assistance over the next six months to cover the most immediate humanitarian needs,” UN humanitarian coordinator for Pakistan Martin Mogwanja said.
Last year, a total of 3.1 million people were displaced from their homes in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghan border, the official said.
Nearly two million people have returned home, but more people are being uprooted in the districts Bajaur, Orakzai and Mohmand, which are part of Pakistan's tribal belt on the Afghan border, he added.
“Considering that the number of IDPs (Internally Displaced People) from Orakzai agency has risen nearly tenfold in the last two months, the emergency in Pakistan seems far from over,” the official told a news conference.
Money is needed for food distribution, rehabilitating and reconstructing damaged homes, schools and health facilities, and helping farmers who lost crops, Mogwanja said.
Pakistan's junior finance minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, said the country had suffered enormously from being on the frontline of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda and a key US ally in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“No other country has suffered as much as Pakistan in the war against terror,” Khar said.
“In addition to innumerable sacrifices of our people and the armed forces there are estimated economic losses of around 34.5 billion dollars as a consequence of the direct and indirect impact of this war,” she said.
Khar said it was vital to rehabilitate the displaced as part of Pakistan's effort to win support away from Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked extremists, who have carved out strongholds in parts of the northwest.
“To win this war we have to win the hearts and minds of the people and we need to take urgent concrete steps for rehabilitation of internally displaced persons,” she said.
Pakistan's military is engaged in offensives against militants across much of the northwest, including tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.