NEW DELHI, Sept 2: An act of madness or that his remarks may have bearing with India keeping in abeyance the Indus Water Treaty (IWT). As Pakistan reels under one of the worst flood crises in recent history, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has stirred a storm with his unusual suggestion on how to cope with the deluge.
In a video that has gone viral amid the ongoing monsoon fury, Asif can be heard advising people to treat floodwaters as a “blessing” and to store them at home in tubs, buckets, and containers rather than letting the waters “go down the drain.” “People who are protesting against the flood-like situation should take the flood waters home,” the minister said. “They should store this water at their homes, in tubs, in lakes. We should look at these waters in the form of a blessing and hence should store it.”
The remarks, originally made during earlier flood seasons, have resurfaced at a time when Punjab province is battling catastrophic rains that have claimed at least 33 lives, affected 2,200 villages, and displaced more than 700,000 residents.
Relief teams are working round the clock, with thousands of livestock also shifted to safer locations, but anger simmers on the ground as villagers in Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, and other districts continue their exodus to higher ground.
Irfan Ali Kathia, Director General of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Punjab, confirmed that the province is witnessing one of the severest floods in its history, with rivers running dangerously high. While water levels in the Sutlej River near Kasur have begun to subside, authorities remain on edge as fresh inflows threaten districts downstream.
National figures paint an even grimmer picture. Since late June, torrential rains and flash floods have killed more than 850 people and injured over 1,100, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). Over 9,000 houses have been damaged, more than 2,000 reduced to rubble, and tens of thousands forced into relief camps. Yet, Asif’s “bucket plan” has gone viral at a time when more than 2.4 million people have been affected across Pakistan, making his comments appear deeply out of step with the scale of the crisis and officials warn that the flood situation remains precarious.
(Manas Dasgupta)
