KARACHI: Floodwaters are receding in Pakistan’s worst-hit southern Sindh province, officials said Friday, a potentially bright sign in an ongoing crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
The Indus River, which remained swollen until earlier this month, was now rushing at “normal” levels towards the Arabian Sea, according to Mohammad Irfan, an irrigation official in hard-hit Sindh. The water level in the past 48 hours receded as much as three feet in some of the inundated areas nearby, including the Khairpur and Johi towns, where waist-high water damaged crops and homes earlier this month.
A day earlier, engineers had opened a key highway in the southwestern Balochistan province, allowing rescue workers to speed aid to those suffering in a race against the spread of waterborne diseases and dengue fever. Still, hundreds of thousands of people in Sindh are living in makeshift homes and tents. Authorities say it will take months to completely drain the water in Sindh.
The paucity of relief goods for the flood-hit people triggered protests in different parts of Sindh. Roads in Jacobabad and Sukkur were blocked at some places by agitating villagers. Near Begari Camp, Garhi Khairo Road was blocked suspending traffic to Ratodero, Qamar Shahdadkot and Larkana. People complained they were forced to live on roads after the floods ravaged their farms and houses and there has been no help.
At Badin, people from several villagers supporting and against the breach in RD 211 near LBOD Spinal Drain protested against the action of the irrigation authorities and staged sit-ins at Khoski Bypass and Navy Chak bringing traffic to a grinding halt from Badin to Tharparkar.
Women and children protested against shortages of food, fodder, medicine and shelter at Rohri. Similarly, the protesters blocked Thatta-Sujawal Road stranding commuters and staged a sit-in against lack of relief material. They criticised the elected representatives and the district administration of Sujawal complaining of their negligence and providing little relief material only to some.
Robbers on a boat looted the flood-ravaged village of the Mehar Tehsil of Dadu in Sindh. Speaking to Geo News, the victims said that they have already lost everything and are now being looted by the robbers. The victims demanded that the government put a ban on using the boats at night. The villagers said that neither the elected representative of the area reached out to them nor have they received aid from any organization.
Piqued by frequent questions of stranded water in several towns and cities across Sindh, Chief Minister Murad Ali asked how could he drain the water in Sindh back to Tarbela and Mangla dams as Sindh has no place to build barrages or dams. He said he is trying to reach all flood-hit areas and would visit Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar and Umerkot too. CM Shah said it is a massive disaster that has displaced 15 million people. We are trying our best with the help of international aid agencies and others to reach out to all the affected areas to provide relief and assistance, he said. The NHA and the provincial government are restoring roads and highways.
The proverb “water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink”, seems to be true for Dera Ismail Khan village of Hathala. A visit to the area showed carcasses of livestock lying in the stranded water and people deprived of food and water. The situation has come to a point where waterborne diseases including those of skin are spreading among the villagers. Forced to spend days in makeshift shelters, the flood-hit people questioned the visiting Geo/The News teams if any aid or assistance would ever reach them.
A classic pan-to-fire situation greeted villagers who returned to their homes and farms after flood waters receded in Rajanpur. The villagers returned only to find villages and farms reduced to a deep mire of muck and slush and heavily damaged houses.
A similar situation awaits the people of Chaman district in Balochistan who are now bracing for another round of weather vagaries without adequate shelter and damaged houses as nights are getting cold ahead of winter just around the corner. The people are apprehensive about how would they cope with impending snowfall in the damaged houses and without adequate shelter. Their properties and farms were washed in the floods and left their houses heavily damaged and scores shelterless. People also complained of ineffective relief supplies from the provincial government.
