Dawn Editorials 5th September 2025

Flood accountability

IN just a few weeks, Pakistan has been struck by its worst flooding since 2022, with Punjab facing devastation on a scale not seen in decades. In eastern and southern Punjab, millions have been displaced, villages submerged and relief systems overwhelmed. KP is grappling with flash floods and landslides that have claimed hundreds of lives, while Sindh, Balochistan and Azad Kashmir remain on high alert, vulnerable to rising waters and weak infrastructure.

With an escalating humanitarian crisis on our hands, the need for transparency in flood mitigation is urgent. While federal and provincial authorities clamour to reassure the public that rehabilitation efforts have started, on-the-ground realities are vastly different.

In Punjab, communities along the Sutlej, Chenab, and Ravi rivers recount harrowing tales: hundreds of villages inundated, families evicted from their homes without essentials, and relief camps devoid of clean water, medical aid and sanitary facilities. Women and children share two washrooms among thousands, meals arrive once and livestock go starving. Such reports are an indictment of a relief system undermined by inefficiency, complacency and a dearth of oversight.

Compounding the crisis is the controversy surrounding Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. She posted a ‘portable toilet’ image as part of flood-relief operations, only for critics to unveil it as a recycled stock photo. She has also drawn flak for ration boxes stamped with her image and an ill-judged gaffe on rainfall. In short, Punjab’s flood response has been marred by missteps that risk eroding public trust at a critical time. Relief must be real, not staged.

However, the point is not to scapegoat one province, but to demand accountability everywhere. In Sindh, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has called for transparency, urging authorities to “leave no stone unturned” in relief efforts and long-term rehabilitation planning. Words, however, must translate swiftly into action.

Federal lawmakers must also be held to account for their role — not just in rhetoric, but in presence. Are they visiting their flood-ravaged constituencies? Is anyone monitoring the quality of aid? Are funds and supplies reaching the needy rather than being siphoned off by bureaucracy?

All political parties must recognise that disaster is not a moment for politicking, but a test of governance. Every province must issue transparent, auditable data on relief distribution, evacuation figures, camp facilities, and rehabilitation plans. Independent monitoring bodies — journalists, civil society, even volunteers — must be welcomed, not restricted. Floods respect no banners or borders. Our collective response must match the scale of the tragedy — not with posturing, but with precision. Only when transparency becomes the rule, not the exception, can the nation begin rebuilding — not just homes and fields, but trust.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2025

War or peace’

MANY clichés are bandied about regarding China’s rise as the new superpower — an economic and military behemoth that is destined to lead the global order. But while some of this might be hyperbole, two recent events have shown that as the old, West-led global order crumbles, a new multilateral system is rising, with China as one of the central pillars of the new order. Earlier in the week, China hosted the SCO-plus summit in Tianjin, where leaders from Eurasia and its neighbouring regions came together to talk geo-economics and geopolitics, and discuss ways to enhance cooperation. On Wednesday, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of China’s World War II victory over imperial Japan, Xi Jinping put on display the People’s Republic’s military might to show his own compatriots and the world where China stands where defence capabilities are concerned. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended both events. Within the span of a few days, China exhibited its soft power and diplomatic prowess in the shape of the SCO, as well as its hard power capabilities in the military parade, sending the message that while Beijing wants to talk trade and connectivity, it is also prepared to hit back militarily if push comes to shove. As Mr Xi noted, mankind faces “the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation”.

In a snide retort to the military parade, particularly Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un’s presence at the event, Donald Trump accused China, Russia and North Korea of ‘conspiring’ against the US. America — and the West’s — panic is palpable, as the emerging global order threatens to replace Western hegemony with a more balanced system, where the Global South has a voice as equals, not as vassals of superpowers. Moreover, it bears mention that many in the international community are disenchanted with the West-led order because of its inherent hypocrisy. Even India — once a darling of the West, touted as the ‘world’s biggest democracy’ — is mending fences with China, thanks largely to the souring of the Trump-Modi bromance over tariffs. The fact is that the US and Europe must accept the reality of China’s rise, and cooperate to create a world with less conflict instead of preparing for endless confrontation. China should also learn from the West’s mistakes, and work to create a system where less powerful states are respected, and not dominated.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2025

Wapda’s demand

NEPRA must rigorously scrutinise Wapda’s petition for a staggering 91pc revenue hike to Rs365bn in FY26 from Rs191bn in FY23 to determine whether it will truly enhance the water and power authority’s performance or merely pass on the burden of its inefficiencies to the public exchequer and consumers. If the new tariff is approved, it would nearly double the bulk hydropower tariff to about Rs11.55 per unit from Rs6.10. The justification advanced by Wapda rests on bridging the financial gap, rising O&M costs, depreciation charges, net hydel profits and sharply rising returns on investment and capital for the past three years. How far is Wapda justified in seeking this increase in tariffs? It is difficult to come to a conclusion until we hear the expert arguments for and against the demand at the Nepra hearing next Thursday.

Yet, the sheer scale of escalation in Wapda’s revenue needs will not be easy to justify. For one, the petition coincides with serious questions raised by the auditor general’s latest report regarding the poor quality of planning, execution and engineering of the Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project. This makes Wapda’s case far weaker than it would otherwise have been as the project has neither secured Pakistan’s water rights nor delivered the designed energy output. Equally concerning is the lack of clarity over demand for returns on investment and weighted average cost of capital calculations. Thus, Nepra is right to frame issues — for its hearing — around Wapda’s demand for a hike in O&M expenses, depreciation charges and returns on power stations and investments in power projects, besides questioning the request for the allowance of regulatory gaps. The upcoming hearing should be more than a routine tariff review and hold Wapda to account not just for financial indiscipline and governance, but also for its poor quality of project planning, execution and engineering. Already burdened by high energy prices, it would be unfair to ask consumers to continue footing the bill for Wapda.

Published in Dawn, September 5th, 2025