Housing for the vast majority of Pakistani citizens remains a critical need. Every crisis, natural disaster, or conflict-induced displacement, internally in Pakistan, highlights the dangerous living conditions of millions of Pakistanis. Whether in designated red zones where there are threats of landslides, earthquakes, flooding, or homes in blocked waterways, there is a catastrophe in the making – no one wants to address it.
With a growing population, malnourished, poor and uneducated, the need for shelter is only growing. Head in the sand really is not an option. Every time there is a spotlight on Pakistan’s human fragility and vulnerability, ‘the housing reconstruction phase’ addresses very little; and worse, does not address the root problem – relocation.
Since the October 2005 earthquake, millions were displaced and lost their lands – a new city, New Balakot, was erected, without anyone really shifting there. Why? Those issues remain.
Rural communities will not move from their ancestral lands and ties to cultural practices which they cannot replicate or preserve in semi-modern urbanised environs.
Government of Pakistan has mapped the country into red zones and is very aware of where citizens remain extremely vulnerable. But it continues to allow citizens to live in these unsafe areas. Ordinarily, families would move on their own accord to safer places. But that would require capacities many of these Pakistanis do not have. For example, disposable income to shift to safer places – rent, buy or something in between. More likely, even if there were some funds, the cultural ties to these dangerous areas, mixed with the inability to imagine a new life, are the reason for not moving. The value for life is not more than the attachment to land and cultural ties.
Citizens who live in rural environs, where millions reside on mountainsides, riverbeds and valleys, are subsistence farmers. Where should they move to? The imagined housing society government does not build or offer on affordable terms – when will these materialise?
It is not the job of the armed forces or private companies to provide affordable homes for vulnerable citizens – it is the government of Pakistan’s
In the urban areas or tourist locations, the image of the restaurant-cum-hotel in Swat on the edge of the river, washed away by flooding no less than twice, because it was allowed to be rebuilt in the same place, remains in my mind. A powerful indicator of how governance operates in Pakistan. Who allows unsafe construction – worse, reconstruction in unsafe areas? This is a very real case of how corruption and disdain for human life persist.
Greed rules.
The social worker or the disaster response civil activist cannot begin the social mobilisation for communities to uproot themselves from ancestral land patches and shift until there are viable alternative options on offer.
The social barriers alone are insurmountable. But that too is an excuse. If incentivised, everyone moves. People move countries and continents for better prospects. Better prospects.
If Pakistan wants to modernise its growing populace, it has to develop the necessary affordable housing options for its citizenry. As a Muslim polity, where is the zakat going? Why are all the welfare departments not pooling in to build affordable housing communities with schools, sports and playgrounds for the young of Pakistan? Where is the money going?
There is absolutely no excuse. Every general and government official vies for plots – in fact we are called Plotistan; let us put to use these ‘public plots’ towards affordable low/no income housing for Pakistanis who need it.
There are many models one can consider to achieve this basic right. If we want to build resilience for the millions of Pakistanis vulnerable to climate change and adapt to this global impact, this must be the first step Pakistan must take.
It is constitutionally government’s constitutional responsibility to provide shelter and security for the needy in Pakistan. Both as an Islamic republic and the fundamental rights in our constitution provide this duty of care towards citizens. Every provincial and federal government agency must pool in to fund and build low-income housing communities. These homes must be available to the most vulnerable and also accessible to those who can pay through available financing.
One suggestion is to link microfinance banks and organisations and poverty alleviation funds towards supporting families who can apply for financing the low-income homes government builds in red zone areas.
The government will have to invest in providing free homes for a segment of the populace as its social security responsibilities. It is not the job of the armed forces or private companies to provide affordable homes for vulnerable citizens – it is the government of Pakistan’s.
Moreover, the working class must also have options to buy in instalments or pay 50% over a lifetime for shelter/physical security. There are multiple permutations of how to offer affordable homes for Pakistanis. We must begin this necessary step if we want to effectively mitigate against disasters in Pakistan.
Once we have Pakistanis in safe zones, access to quality education, skills and modern tools becomes a natural next step. This is how we can move forward, building resilience which empowers and strengthens Pakistanis. Let us build back better, stronger, safer Pakistan NOW.