Chenab’s Forgotten Millions

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: On the cracked riverbank of a swelling Chenab, a woman sits cross-legged, baking bread while her small child watches silently. Behind them, half-woven baskets lie unfinished—humble tools used for storing fodder, picking cotton, or sheltering chickens. In their stillness lies the unbearable truth of a nation’s forgotten: millions born to endure poverty, to live and die without recognition, without relief.

This is not just a moment captured by a lens. It is a portrait of systemic failure.

Two years ago, floods displaced over thirty million people across Pakistan. Aid poured in from across the globe, yet stories of misappropriated relief, untraceable funds, and rerouted supplies quickly surfaced. Turkish blankets meant for flood victims resurfaced in markets. Relief containers meant for Pakistani survivors were sent back to assist other crises. Even the audit trails confirmed what victims had already felt — that they were never a priority.

And now, the water rises again.

The woman and her child in the frame are not alone. There are thousands like them lining the riverbanks, surviving on borrowed time. They do not have evacuation plans, safe housing, or medical access. Their lives remain at the mercy of both nature and negligence.

Children drink contaminated water. Families huddle under makeshift shelters, often reusing the same tattered items from floods past. As policymakers trade statistics and headlines shift, the disaster quietly deepens—one family, one bread, one basket at a time.

Read More: https://thepenpk.com/childhood-lost-to-dung/

This is not just a climate emergency. It is a crisis of governance. The system continues to rely on political patronage, reactive policies, and blurred lines of responsibility. Relief remains a favor, not a right. Dignity is negotiable. Accountability is absent.

But this moment can still be salvaged—if action replaces rhetoric.

Identification drives must begin now to document those still unaccounted for. Relief should be equitable, free from the grip of local power brokers. Aid should not vanish, reappear in markets, or be redirected elsewhere. And above all, the child beside the woman deserves a future that is not shaped by floods and forgotten promises.

The Chenab will rise again. Whether policy rises with it is the real test of this nation’s conscience. The water is already swelling, and in a matter of days, those living along the banks may once again become collateral damage. The clock is ticking — not just on rising rivers, but on the failure to act.