HYDERABAD: The Sindh Chief Minister, Murad Ali Shah, has assured the rain and flood affected people of rescue operations in the first phase and rehabilitation work in the second phase. CM Shah was talking to the media during his visit to different districts of the Hyderabad Division.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that heavy rains had caused losses and damages in the province to the tune of Rs40 billion. “We will repair and reconstruct all the damaged roads, bridges, drains and channels.”
Shah said that the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, had directed all the party MNAs and MPAs to visit their constituencies to help the rain-affected people. To a question, he said that the federal government was partnering with the provincial government in the rescue and rehabilitation of the affected people. “I have requested Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to help the Sindh government in the rehabilitation of the rain-affected people and he (the PM) has assured me of full support,” he said.
Earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, during his day-long visit on Saturday to the flood-affected district of Hyderabad Division, declared two more districts as calamity-hit areas in the province and pledged to give Rs25,000 to each of the affected families through the Benazir Income Support Programme. The chief minister first visited the Malir River at Quaidabad in Karachi where he directed the Irrigation Department to keep the district and divisional administration of Karachi informed when any flood hits the river so that necessary measures could be taken to avoid any untoward incident. He was accompanied by Minister for Local Govt Syed Nasir Shah, Minister for Excise & Taxation Mukesh Kumar Chawla and his Adviser on Rehabilitation Rasool Bus Chandio.
In Thatta, Deputy Commissioner, Thatta, Ghazanfar Qadri, while briefing the chief minister, said that Taluka Mirpur Sakro, Ghorabari and Keti Bunder have been affected badly by heavy downpours. In all the four talukas, 9,980 houses have been damaged. Crops spread over an area of 20,365 acres, including betel leaf, cotton, paddy sugarcane and vegetables, have been submerged. The meeting was told that 1,099 villages and 81,200 people have been affected while 15,500 persons have been displaced due to heavy rains. The heavy rains caused breaches in different water channels such as Derman Dhoro, Khooni Dhoro, Ban Nali, Sim Nali at Jherruck and Tika drain at Ketibunder.
In Sujawal, Deputy Commissioner, Sujawal, Shaharyar Memon, in his briefing told the chief minister that the unprecedented rainfall had damaged 12,801 houses, including 10,512 partially and 2,289 fully. Some 87,045 people, including 46,134 women, have been displaced, four cattle perished and 88 per cent of the total crops on 86,670 acres were washed away. The Health Department has set up three camps where 40 families have been accommodated. As many as 36 medical camps have been set up wherein 13,680 patients, mostly of malaria and diarrhoea, 16 of snake bites and 1,645 of scabies have also been treated. The livestock department has vaccinated 6,724 cattle.
Murad Ali Shah was told that areas on the coastal belt, including Jati, Shah Bunder and Kharo Chan, have been affected. Breaches in sea protective bunds in different union councils have inundated various villages. The CM after visiting camps set up along the River Indus embankment area known as Duleh Darya declared Sujawal as a calamity-hit area.
During his visit to Badin, Deputy Commissioner Agha Shahnawaz told the chief minister that Badin was a low-lying district located at the tail-end of the province with a vast coastal area. Shah was told that Badin has always remained prone to severe climatic challenges like cyclones, and flash floods due to breaches in LBOD and heavy rainfall. Badin receives an average rainfall of 258mm per year but this year it received 338mm of rain between July 23 to July 27, 2022. According to the briefing given to the chief minister, 19,027 houses have been damaged, including 5,782 fully damaged, 17 people had died and 17 sustained injuries, 197,245 persons of the district have been affected and crops standing over 207,018 acres of area washed away. Earlier, the CM visited the drainage network namely the Phuleli-Guni drain outfall in Nareri Lake in the delta. The system evacuates the accumulated bulk rainwater of district Badin and part of Tando Muhammad Khan. The CM declared Badin a calamity-hit area.
Deputy Commissioner of Tando Mohammad Khan Yasin Bhatti briefed the chief minister about the losses and damages caused by the heavy rains in Tando Mohammad Khan. Special Assistant to CM Qasim Naveed told the CM that three talukas of the district, Tando Mohammad Khan, Buleri Shah Karim and Tando Ghulam Hyder, have received 544.5mm rainfall during the last three spells starting from July 1 to August 20, 2022. The CM was told that several villages were under water but none of the affected villagers was willing to shift to the relief camp. The inundated localities in the urban areas of the district include Peoples Colony, Bathoro Road, Al-Fateh Chowk, Old Bus Stop, Talpur Town, Mushtarika Colony, Shaukat Colony and Behrani Mohalla.
In the rural area, nine villages of Tando Mohammad Khan, nine villages of Bulri Shah Karim and four villages of Tando Ghulam Hyder have been affected. The CM was told that two baby girls lost their lives in heavy rains, seven persons were injured and 60 cattle perished. Various roads measuring 150 kilometres have been damaged. The CM was told that 10,000 tents, tarpaulin sheets, 10,000 mosquito nets and 5000 animal nets were required for the affected people. The CM directed the Provincial Disaster Management Authority to assess the requirement and provide the required material to the district.
Meanwhile, Sindh Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the recent heavy rains have caused heavy losses in the province and in three days more than 250 mm of rain has been recorded in Hyderabad.
The Sindh Information Minister stated this as he was talking to media persons during his visit to Tulsidas Pumping Station in Taluka City Hyderabad along with DC Hyderabad on Saturday. He praised the efforts of Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro and Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Fuad Ghaffar Soomro for ensuring uninterrupted drainage of rainwater.
Sharjeel said that the situation in low-lying and rural areas of Hyderabad was not good, however, rainwater was being drained out continuously. To a question, he assured that the situation in Hyderabad would be much better in the next 24 hours as a meeting would also be called in the present day to review the situation and announce Hyderabad as a calamity-hit district. Replying to a question, Memon assured the media persons that he would inform the CM about the negligence of the officials of the Local Government Department in Hyderabad in taking effective rain emergency measures.
Earlier, Sharjeel Memon, along with DC Hyderabad visited Fateh Chowk, Mohammadi Chowk, Faqir Ka Pir, Tilak Incline and other different areas of Hyderabad. He directed the officials concerned to ensure the drainage of rainwater from low-lying areas without delay.
He said that due to recent heavy rains, the farmers had suffered losses of billions of rupees. “We are with our people and also want that the federal government to support the Sindh government in providing relief to the rain-affected people of Sindh”, he added. He said that the Sindh CM was visiting various districts of Sindh to assess the situation after the rains and would take remedial measures for rain-affected areas and added that PPP’s government would not leave its people helpless in this difficult time. He said that ministers and advisors of the provincial cabinet were in the field in their respective areas and continuously monitoring the rain emergency and relief works including drainage of rainwater.
The Sindh Information Minister said that Imran Khan Niazi was a hypocrite and a liar who was trying to blackmail and pressurise institutions of the country. He said that there were many flaws in the nomination papers of Imran Khan and that the same legal procedure should be used for Imran Khan as used for other candidates, he said.
