Din Muhammad sat perched on his charpai as it rested slightly tilted on a small mound of dirt. Cars whizzed past him barely a dozen feet away. The traffic on the M2 was subdued early in the morning and offered little distraction to Din and the long line of people that found themselves camped out on the side of the highway with their families, cattle, and whatever belongings they could carry with them.
“People from the government came two nights ago and told us to evacuate. Some people from within the village did not want to leave and advised us against it but the government kept pushing. Eventually we grabbed our essentials and left,” he explains. His eyes are fixated on the scene in the distance. Right next to the motorway’s Babu Sabu Interchange close to Thokar Niaz Baig, the main entry point to Lahore, one can see nothing but water from miles. From a distance the water seems timeless. Like it was never not there. But it does not take long to notice what is poking out of the water. Golden three-pronged street lamps and billboard with the half visible words “New Metro City Lahore”
This is the site of one of the many real estate development projects that have been taking place close to or smack dab in the middle of the banks of the Ravi River. Even as he speaks with us, Din Muhammad’s eyes remain fixated in the distance, his responses come delayed.
“He is looking for our buffalo. When we left the village we brought all five animals with us. One of them wandered off in the middle and we haven’t seen her since,” his wife says from the foot of the charpai where she is attending to their children. “The buffalo we lost was the healthiest in our herd and gave the most milk. He’s worried she will be lost in the waters now.”
This is only one story of the more than 250,000 people that have been displaced and more than 15 lakh that have been affected by the ongoing flood in central Punjab. The situation is only set to get worse. As the water flows South, government authorities have already begun preparing for the three flooded rivers, Ravi, Chenab, and Sutlej, to rush into South Punjab and eventually meet in the Indus River in Sindh. The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
