Sindh’s 13 districts badly hit: Bilawal directs quick rehabilitation of flood victims

KARACHI: Chairman of Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that the unprecedented prolonged five spells of monsoon rains have badly affected people in 13 districts of Sindh, therefore our priority is to protect the affected people in the first phase and then rehabilitate them with a relief package.

“We cannot leave them under the open skies and the provincial government must mobilize all its resources to support the affected people by providing them tents, mosquito nets, drinking water, cooked and uncooked food, healthcare facilities, and vaccination of cattle.”

Bilawal gave these directives to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday while presiding over a special meeting, held at the CM House, to review the losses and damages caused by heavy rains and the measures taken by the provincial government. The meeting besides Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, was attended by Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Karachi’s Administrator Murtaza Wahab, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro (through video link), Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Principal Secretary to CM Fayaz Jatoi, Karachi’s Commissioner Karachi Iqbal Memon, Senior Member Board of Revenue Baqaullah Unar, Local Government Secretary Najam Shah, Secretary Finance Sajid Jamal Abro, and other officials.

The PPP chairman said that the ongoing monsoon season had submerged thousands of villages and towns in 13 districts in Sindh with a heavy downpour. “The heavy rains have affected and rendered thousands of people homeless, therefore their full rehabilitation is the responsibility of our government in Sindh,” he said and directed CM Murad Ali Shah to send the party MPAs to their respective constituencies for helping out people.

The CM while briefing Bilawal said that during the last 24 hours, Sanghar has received 319 mm rainfall followed by Umerkot 172 mm, Shaheed Benazirabad 162, Qambar-Shahdadkot 158, Tando Allahyar 150, Hyderabad 142, Khairpur 135, Larkana 127, Naushehro Feroze 112 and Tharparkar 105. He added that widespread thunderstorms and rains were expected all over Sindh, therefore flood warnings have been issued all over the province.

CM Murad Ali Shah said that the heavy rains have claimed 166 lives and injured 573 people. He added that according to the Livestock Department 2,849 cattle have perished, 47,399 houses were damaged, including 6,489 fully and 40,910 partially damaged, and standing crops over an area of 810,683 acres was washed away/damaged.

The CM said that 1,002 km of roads and 18 bridges had been damaged by the heavy rains all over Sindh. He added that his government had declared nine districts as calamity-hit areas and four more districts were also being declared calamity-affected.

According to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, around 1.053 million people have been affected and 432,658 persons displaced due to heavy rains. “We have set up 61 relief camps where 1,169 people have been shifted while other affected people were not ready to leave their homes, therefore they have been provided with tents, mosquito nets, beds, and such other things through PDMA.

CM Murad Ali Shah told the PPP chairman that as per rough estimates the rehabilitation of the affected people along with the reconstruction of their houses and compensation for the losses of the damaged crops, shops, and repair of the damaged road network, bridges, and sewerage system would cost around Rs40 billion. He told the PPP Chairman that the provincial government had meagre resources, therefore the federal government would have to come over to help his government rehabilitate the affected people. At this Chairman Bilawal Bhutto assured the CM that he would talk to the prime minister to help the Sindh government.

Bilawal was told that Left Bank Outfall Drain was in a precarious condition right from Sanghar, Shahdadputr up to Kaloi. It was pointed out that Mirpurkhas had received 36 hours of continuous rain on August 18. Therefore, Mirpurkhas district, Kot Ghulam Mohammad, and its adjoining areas have been affected badly.

The meeting was told that the Latifabad and Qasimabad areas of Hyderabad had been submerged, therefore dewatering machines have been installed to drain out rainwater. Jamshoro, Majhad, Sehwan taluka, Johi of Dadu, Tando Mohammad Khan, and Tando Allahyar have also been affected badly.

The Sukkur and Khairpur districts have also received heavy downpours, therefore the people of these areas, their entire date and cotton crops have been washed away. The schools in Sukkur and Khairpur were closed for the last two days. Larkana, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, and Kashmore have also been affected, therefore surveys of the losses and damages were being conducted there. The rain has also wreaked havoc in Nawabshah, Naushehro Feroze, and Umerkot areas.The PPP Chairman directed Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro to keep visiting the barrages and vulnerable points of different embankments to monitor the situation.

All the relevant departments such as Local Government, Irrigation, PDMA, health, livestock, and revenue departments must be activated for the welfare of the people, their properties, and the protection of the government assets. Bilawal directed the CM to improve the entire road network in Karachi and repair its sewerage system as soon as the rains were over. He also directed the municipal agencies to start anti-mosquito and bacterial sprays in the areas where water has accumulated.