ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Musadik Malik lashed out at Pakistan’s entrenched elite culture, accusing powerful individuals of safeguarding their lavish resorts along riverbanks at the cost of displacing entire poor communities.
Speaking on local TV channel, Malik revealed that properties lying on riverbed are largely owned by influential figures. “To protect 10 people’s resorts, entire villages were uprooted,” he said, calling it a stark example of inequality in disaster management.
Addressing broader water management challenges, the minister highlighted deep mistrust among provinces. “Every province suspects the other. Balochistan believes Sindh takes water but doesn’t share it, while Sindh accuses others of holding back its share,” he noted. Malik admitted that consensus on dams and canals is rarely achieved, stressing that the only long-term solution lies in telemetry monitoring — a system currently being implemented and expected to be completed within a year.
On the ongoing flood situation, the minister warned that Sargodha has already begun to feel the impact. Once all rivers converge at Panjnad, he cautioned, water flow could swell to as much as one million cusecs. He added that despite early warnings, many villagers resist evacuation. “In one village, 30 people refused to leave until we persuaded them. Today, that area is under water,” he remarked.
Malik said Pakistan cannot rely solely on large dams. “If we don’t have reservoirs at the tehsil and district levels, what can we do? We must develop natural water reserves across the country,” he added.
