Catalyzing Climate and Disaster Resilience: Processes for Identifying

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they were only concerned with building control and compliance to building codes!
(SLD with Rowal Town TMA, 2007). Sitting on the bank of the Lai with the early
warning system in his premises, he did not realize how building standards in terms of
plinth levels and control are an essential part of risk reduction in a flood plain.
He did admit that building controls were not enforced and that only after the collapse
of a shopping plaza, the municipality woke up to the lack of enforcement. In addition,
we realize that contour or flood maps of the Lai are not publicly available, as somehow
this information is sensitive to national security. Lack of such basic information
precludes the local government from taking proactive steps. Similarly, almost all of
the other service providers in the Lai area, like health, education, water and sanitation,
claimed that risk reduction was not their mandate and some external structural
measure was the only solution to avert risk in the Lai flood plain. However, appropriate
building codes, zoning and enforcement may be the most cost effective measures for
risk reduction, which would not require any extra resource beyond what the local
authorities are mandated to do in their day-to-day responsibilities.
Comparing Urban Flood Mitigation Options: Costs and Benefits
in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Political versus techno-administrative understanding of DRR
While DRR is considered strictly a technical and sectoral issue, the impetus for risk
reduction comes from political forces. The politicized nature of DRR is so well
established in the area that some of the Civil Defence volunteers complained that the
communities would sometimes not cooperate with them. The locals assumed that the
Civil Defence was there to further some political motive and not help in reality. Despite
the concrete risk reduction measure, Lai flooding has been used by politicians as
means of gaining support from communities as they are photographed wading in
knee-deep waters while making statements about providing relief to the affected
communities (Daily Jang archives, 2007).
The launch of “Lai Expressway” which was later renamed “Sheikh Rashid Expressway”
was a maneuver in electioneering and pork barrel politics. Such large-scale intervention
could not have been proposed by any single organization because of their sectoral
mandates and interests. It by-passed all the regular project preparation and approval
stages as a “fast-track” investment made through the directive of the President of
Pakistan. To get financial allocations, some documentation such as a Feasibility Report
and an Environmental Impact Assessment were hastily prepared and missed critical
issues like groundwater recharge due to paving of the riverbed with concrete. Expecting
a governmental CBA of various options would have been unrealistic in this case, as it
may have highlighted alternate options that were more cost effective. Therefore, no
government CBA was conducted to evaluate the Expressway project.
Understanding concept of vulnerability and its nuances
Vulnerability is a growing buzzword in the NGO circles, but often used more in relation
to gender debates and the consequences of patriarchic systems. In government
planning circles, vulnerability is equated to poverty. At the local level, although the
communities may not be able to realistically fathom costs, they have a very good idea
of vulnerabilities and their causes. What is clearly missing from the debate at various
policy levels is the concept of building resilience in communities by addressing the
root causes of vulnerability to reduce risk. As a result, provision of basic infrastructure