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Thursday March 28, 2024

Cyclone-hit victims look for realisation of rosy promises

HYDERABAD: The people in the Sindh coastal areas marked the anniversary of cyclone A-02, which hit to the coastal area on May 19, 1999, sweeping around 350 villages, destroying 15,000 homes all around and causing deaths of around 450 people.The ceremony, organised by activists of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) at

By Jan Khaskheli
May 22, 2015
HYDERABAD: The people in the Sindh coastal areas marked the anniversary of cyclone A-02, which hit to the coastal area on May 19, 1999, sweeping around 350 villages, destroying 15,000 homes all around and causing deaths of around 450 people.
The ceremony, organised by activists of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) at Jati and other areas, attracted a few people from the local neighborhoods, who shared their observations and called the government to fulfill the promise of carrying out schemes for rehabilitation of the communities.
Noor Muhammad Thahimor of Jati, who witnessed the horrible disaster and lost a number of family members and close relatives , said the then Punjab government had announced building of two model villages, comprising total 176 houses, in the year 2000 to rehabilitate the people affected by cyclone.
Thahimor said at least 100 homes had been completed in a village Golo Mandhro in Badin district, which, even after 15 years, are yet to be allotted to beneficiaries, who were identified as vulnerable 16 years ago.
Apathetic situation is that the model village, comprising 100 houses with two-rooms, veranda, cattle pond, water and sanitation facilities, mosque and school, is still there and authorities are yet to allot them to the deserving people of the area.
In the surrounding of the well-established Golo Mandhro Village, the people are unaware that whose homes are these and why they are not allowed to live there; they live mostly under the makeshift wooden shelters.
The reports revealed that the then Punjab government had allocated Rs10 million for the cyclone affected people to be utilised for the construction of two model villages of Golo Mandhro in Badin and Noor Muhammad Chalko in Jati.
A cheque of the amount, which is a part of Rs15 million grant-in-aid, was announced by the then Punjab government for the victims of the cyclone.
PML-N Sindh President Muhammad Ismail Rahu, who belongs to Badin district, said, “Major political parties are playing games with the marginalised people.”
Rahu said the then PML-N government in Punjab, led by Nawaz Sharif, took initiative and built the completed homes in village Golo Mandhro, which are still there, out of any use. But, when his government was forced out, it should have been the responsibility of successive governments to continue the project in the interest of the people.
When contacted, PPP leaders passed the buck on their rivals.
The other village, Noor Muhammad Chalko, was also identified to be built as a model village with Rs100,000 compensation for each victim to the deserving families. But, the successive governments have broken the record of breaching promises and the people are still waiting to see the development. Especially, the case of established Golo Mandhro is enough for opening eyes of the governments as not a single family has been allowed to occupy the well-built home.
After the cyclone, vast tracts of lands have either been lost to sea, or have become saline due to encroaching by high tides. More than 30 of Dehs (local units of land) with flourishing villages are considered lost. Dozens of villages situated in those areas were uprooted and the villagers had to leave the place. A large number of villages near the coast still face threats of inundation.
The team visited the government’s housing scheme in the village Golo Mandhiro, which’s been vacant since the date of construction, and it is partially damaged.
It was observed that the community is not interested to live in these houses.
Local people, on the cyclone’s losses, said at least 15,000 houses were damaged by the stormy winds and high tides, pushing people to shift their families on different directions and stay there for several days.
Around 350 schools in scattered coastal villages were destroyed, putting psychological effects on children, their parents and teachers, the activists said.
Several fishermen are still missing; some of them are assumed to have been languishing in Indian jails.
The children at that time are now grown up with horrible memories, while new comers in these schools have a tale they listen from their mothers and grandmothers.
The coastal area has been declared prone to disaster, and the people frequently receive warning calls from the government authorities in case of developing cyclones, tsunamis and floods time to time.
The people could not understand why the authorities have neglected them. Golo Mandhro village mirrors this apathy.