Though the winter in Afghanistan has entered its last phase, it is yet to be over as another major wave of cold weather has struck some parts of the country very hard. There has been heavy snowfall in most of the central and northern parts of the country and many people have been suffering as a result. According to news reports on Monday, February 04, at least three people were killed and one person injured in avalanches in northern Parwan province which struck late Sunday afternoon. The incident happened in Shikh Ali district of the province when two men and a woman who were walking on the street were trapped by the avalanche, provincial spokeswoman Roshna Khalid said on Monday. "They wanted to go in a wedding party in the district but they were killed by an avalanche," she said.
Another report revealed that a woman and her two children froze to death in Logar province overnight as temperatures dropped below freezing. The deaths happened in Logar's Kharwar district Sunday night after the cold weather worsened and the roads through the district closed. Heavy snowfall also closed the roads from the Azar, Charkh and Barak-e-Barak districts to the capital of Logar.
Such incidents are very common during the winters in some of the central and northern provinces of the country. Heavy snowfalls in these provinces influence the people in so many ways. They either, as mentioned above, kill the people and injure them or limit their movement and their access to necessities of life. The current snowfall has obstructed major traffic route on Salang Highway in the north of Afghanistan since Friday. The maintenance and guard department has stopped traffic on the highway because of the poor weather conditions and the possibility of an avalanche in the area. Meanwhile, deputy public works Minister Ahmad Shah Wahid on Monday said in a press conference that more than 14 avalanches have delayed work in most of the Salang area.
The deaths because of severe cold and avalanches are not rare in Afghanistan. In 2010 about 150 people became the unfortunate victims of avalanches in the Salang pass. It was not that only weather can be blamed for the misfortunate incident; rather the lack of emergency arrangements also played a role in the increased number of deaths.
It is clearly understood by the government authorities that many parts of the country have to suffer the severe consequences of cold weather, therefore arrangement have to be made in order to deal with such situations but the authorities in our country come to action only after the incident occurs and the losses are incurred. If there are measures planned and carried out before the worst situation, it is very likely that some, if not all, of valuable lives can be saved.
Afghanistan is one of the countries that suffer from lack of development and basic requirements of life. Millions in the country can hardly acquire basic necessities of life. Through most part of its modern history the country has been dominated by wars and conflicts. Little efforts have been made in improving the standard of living of the people.
Most of the people in our country live in remote areas of the country where marginal attentions have been focused. The last decade has been fortunate for the country to a certain extent but gigantic efforts have to be made so as to enable the common people to have the rudimentary requirements without tiring efforts. Unfortunately the government in this regard has not shouldered the responsibility of governing the country with full devotion and dedication; rather it has been involved in corruption and incapability.
As the country is an underdeveloped country and there is lack of basic requirements and resources, even minor misfortunes may turn into nightmares for the common people of the country. Whenever, there are instances of natural disasters and catastrophes, they, in fact, have their influences more than they should really have. An earthquake, for example, if unfortunately hits a country; the lack of facilities to fight with the challenges of the accident may cause a great loss before the situation is handled appropriately. Or any other disaster, even smaller in intensity and scale, may confuse the government authorities how to deal with the situation or it is also possible that they may never come to know about it or may not have anything to offer accept negligence. Thus, it can be said without much doubt that the authorities are not ready to deal with the difficult situations appropriately or they have not paid attention to the issue as per its requirement.
It is very likely that old people and children who are very much sensitive to the changes in weather get easily sick. Their troubles are multiplied when they find no availability of basic health facilities to help them get rid of diseases. Health units in such areas are almost non-existent and most of the patients are treated through domestic ways of treatment which are basically based on false diagnosis and medication. It has been observed that many of the families use drugs for their patients, even children, which serve as tranquilizer and help them get rid of pain temporarily but in fact make them patients for the rest of their lives.
The government authorities have to take serious steps in improving the standard of living of the people and give development works great importance. If people are provided the basic requirements of life easily, they will be able to fight with the natural catastrophes without much difficulty. Unfortunately, the development works have been completely neglected by the present government authorities. Our authorities have not been able to use even half of the development budget, which in its full size happens to be insufficient for an underdeveloped country like Afghanistan. In fact, billions of dollars have been utilized in Afghanistan but only a meager part has reached to the poor and deserving masses – the ones who suffer the consequences of all sorts of disorder, conflict, wars and disasters. Most of the money has, in fact, gone to the pockets of corruption and to quench the thirst for money and ever growing greed. The ruling class has really blocked the flow of money to the development of lives of common people and wastes it for the ostentatious display of its false grandeur, which cannot last for long unless we have a stable country with better living standards.