CM visits 11 districts in three days to inspect flood relief distribution

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, on his last leg of a visit to 11 flood-hit districts of three divisions in the province within three days, asked the officials concerned to dispose of rainwater in Matiari, Nawabshah and Sanghar districts into Rohri Canal for which Markh Wah and other drains would be used.

The CM at Rohri Canal in the Matiari district held a meeting with Minister for Irrigation Jam Khan Shoro, Revenue Minister Makhdoom Mahboob and irrigation experts and decided that the water inundating more than 100 small and big villages of four union councils of New Saeedabad would be disposed of through the Markh Wah distributary, but for that purpose, a small channel from Khor Wah to Rohri Canal would be built to provide the missing connection.

He directed Revenue Minister Makhdoom Mahboob to monitor the excavation of the new channel and ensure its completion within two to three days so that the disposal of the floodwaters could be started.

The meeting also pointed out that the water coming down from Udero Lal, Jhando Mari and from other areas of Sanghar could also be disposed of through the Markh Wah. “I have visited Chhandan drain passing through the National Highway in the areas of Matiari which was flowing at its dead level. I think it is chocked somewhere otherwise it should carry rainwater from the upper side of Matiari to River Indus,” he said and directed the irrigation engineers to inspect the drain and make it functional for clearing the inundated villages.

When the meeting started at the site of the Khor Wah and the irrigation minister started briefing the CM through an irrigational map, locals living in tents gathered at the place. They told the CM that they were receiving relief goods, including ration bags, and living peacefully in the tents, but “we are not happy here even if we are provided with rich food and luxury living”. They added: “We want to return to our ancestral villages to lead life in our own way.”

The CM told them that his visit was purely based on exploring a way out to dispose of floodwaters from the affected villages. “I feel your condition -- you and your women cannot live along the roads and would rather feel comfortable in their katcha houses, with their cattle and agricultural belongings,” he said and assured them that they would be sent back to their homes once the floodwaters were disposed of.

Shah later drove to Rohri Canal where he got another briefing from irrigation engineers and he finally decided to start the disposal of rainwater to clear the villages and other built-up areas inundated by floodwaters. On the way to Naushehro Feroze, he visited a tent city at Malook Khaskheli village of the Matiari district. When he saw a makeshift prayer place/madrasa established in a tent he went inside it, where a teacher was teaching the Holy Quraan to young children.

The CM spent some time with the children, interacted with them and their teacher and assured them that they would be sent them back to their village mosque soon.

Shah appreciated the teacher for continuing teaching the Holy Quraan even after losing his mosque and religious seminary to heavy rains. He also met the dwellers of the tents and heard about their problems and asked one of them for providing him his mobile phone number to get more details later in the evening.

At the conclusion of his three days of hectic visits, the CM took an aerial view of Nawabshah, Daur and the adjoining areas inundated with the floodwaters. Late in the evening, he returned to Karachi. The CM visited the 11 districts of Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions -- Sujawal, Thatta, Tando Mohamad khan, Badin, Tando Allahyar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Sanghar, Matiari, Naushehro Feroze, and Nawabshah – in three days.