Pakistan, Oct. 5 -- Every year, the same story repeats itself - with new faces at the podium, but the same watery devastation spreading across the plains of Punjab. Floods come, crops drown, people wade through knee-deep uncertainty, and the government announces compensation. This year, the Punjab government has promised Rs20,000 per acre as relief for crop losses - a lifeline for farmers, yes, but one that exposes how the province's relationship with disaster remains transactional rather than transformative.

The announcement came amid warnings from the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) that India is likely to release more than 150,000 cusecs of water into the Chenab, Sutlej and Ravi rivers within days - a reminder of how t...