Villagers brave snakes, hunger to protect land in Khairpur

KHAIRPUR: The village of Karim Bakhsh in district Khairpur is almost entirely under muddy water after catastrophic monsoon rains -- hardly any stable buildings are left for shelter, the wheat silos are empty and venomous snakes are a constant threat.

But unlike the tens of thousands of people, who have fled their flooded homes, villages and towns across the country, but several families of the said village have refused to leave. Without formal property deeds, many residents are worried that if they take off opportunists will seize their land, where their families have lived for generations.

“We had ownership papers from the British colonial government,” Intizar Ahmed, a 55-year-old farmer, told AFP Wednesday while standing on an elevated patch of land near his mostly submerged homestead in Sindh. “But we lost them many years ago in a flood like this (besides) we have no place to go.”

Others said they worried about the fate of their livestock -- a resource far too valuable for poor villagers to leave behind. “We have buffaloes, cows and goats... if we leave the cattle behind they would be stolen,” Shah Mohammad, another villager said. There was enough for the animals to eat for now, he said, but villagers have been struggling to replenish empty wheat bins.

Cut off from the world

Aid delivered by boat by charities is the only lifeline for those who can’t or don’t want to leave village Karim Bakhsh of district Khairpur. The village has been besieged by murky floodwaters extending for more than a kilometre in some spots.

The villagers gathered on the few dry patches of land to wait for a boat operated by the Alkhidmat Foundation -- a humanitarian organisation -- as it puttered through the waist-deep water and it was the first aid delivery in days.

The boat made multiple stops in the village so the relief workers could hand over tents, food packages and other supplies to the flood victims. An aid worker said the charity had decided to make the deliveries after it found out that some families did not want to leave.

At every stop, there was evidence of the destruction wrought by the torrential rains and floods -- the worst in decades. Most homes and structures were washed away and villagers were desperate for any material that might help build temporary shelter to protect them from both the rain and -- when it came out -- the scorching sun.

“Our homes fell... We cut down the trees and used that wood to hold up whatever was left of our walls,” said Gul Badshah, 70. Maqbool Ahmed, another resident, prepared to face a different local threat especially common during floods: venomous snakes. “We light it up in the night to guard against snakes,” he told AFP. “Sometimes, cobras and vipers sneak into our place.”