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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>Floods inflicted $3.7 billion loss in Sindh, Balochistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/344219/floods-inflicted-3-7-billion-loss-in-sindh-balochistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/344219/floods-inflicted-3-7-billion-loss-in-sindh-balochistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 02 Mar 12 06:03:00 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Shahbaz Rana]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=344219</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[ADB/WB report says half of the losses in Sindh were agriculture related.]]>
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				<![CDATA[An unreleased joint study by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank has assessed that the floods in 2011, which ravaged several southern districts of Sindh and parts of Balochistan, caused a loss of $3.7 billion to the country, sources told The Express Tribune.


The Damage and Needs Assessment (DNA) report, carried out by the two lending agencies on request of the government of Pakistan, evaluated the losses to be much lower than the initial estimates that put the damages at $7 billion. The report estimates the damages in Sindh at approximately $3.5 billion, according to sources, adding that over 94 per cent of the losses had been reported in Sindh.

The report has not yet been made public as the World Bank has submitted it to Economic Affairs Division for final review.  The worst affected districts in Sindh were Mirpurkhas, Badin, Tando Muhammad Khan, Umerkot and Sanghar.

Last month, the United Nations launched a $440 million aid appeal for the early recovery of people affected by last year’s floods in Sindh and Balochistan. The appeal was launched to carry out 215 projects in 9 sectors under Early Recovery Framework, jointly prepared by the United Nations and Pakistan. However, an earlier appeal by the UN, launched to seek assistance during the emergency phase of the 2011 floods, only succeeded in securing less than half of the total estimated requirements.

According to sources, the reconstruction costs, which were estimated at $2.7 billion by the study, were valued much lower as most of the losses were crop related. According to the report, half of the losses in Sindh were agriculture related, sources revealed. Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Dr Waqar Masood was not available for comment.

Earlier, briefing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Finance Secretary Abdul Wajid Rana had claimed that the last two floods in the country had caused a total loss of $14 billion, adding that the annual growth target had been downward adjusted to 3.6 per cent after last year’s floods.

However, Rana went on to add that preliminary crop production had shown healthy signs with indications that growth may touch 4 per cent by the end of the year. Against revised estimates of 1.5 per cent, the trend indicates that agriculture output may grow to 3.5 per cent due to bumper cotton and sugarcane crops. The agriculture sector accounts for over one-fifth of the gross domestic product.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2nd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Floods 2011: In Badin, problems for survivors mount as waters recede</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/310185/floods-2011-in-badin-problems-for-survivors-mount-as-waters-recede</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/310185/floods-2011-in-badin-problems-for-survivors-mount-as-waters-recede#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 11 20:11:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saifur.rehman]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=310185</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[With cash in hand, people return only to devastated education and health infrastructure .]]>
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				<![CDATA[Although most flood survivors in Badin have returned to their homes and villages, the process seems to have been carried out without proper planning.

In its hurry to rehabilitate people, the local administration has sent them back to only a difficult life. For instance, the education and health infrastructure in areas devastated by the floods has not been restored.

But that is a problem for those sent to areas where water has receded. Some people have been sent back to their hometowns that are still under water, putting them at risk of infectious diseases and snake bite.

On closer inspection, the situation appears to be better than it was reported to be. According to media reports, 85 per cent of the people in Badin district were displaced by the flooding. But, locals said, the actual figure is merely 25 per cent. They said that NGOs, media organisations and other groups distorted and exaggerated facts to attract more funding.

The agriculture sector has suffered greatly. Almost 90 per cent of farmland in Badin has been destroyed, which spells disaster for an area where a majority of the population depends on this type of livelihood.

The local administration has paid Rs10,000 per acre to affected people who are farmers or small cultivators i.e. own 25 or less acres of land. Rs30,000 is being provided to families in the form of the Watan Card.

Farmers find this amount enough to live a comfortable life but they have no concept of how crucial access to education and health services is.

The administration also doesn’t seem to concentrate much on that. The only first aid clinic in Fatehabad village, which was run on charity, was completely flooded. It has yet to be cleaned.

On the other hand, clerics seem to be working to convince people that the flooding happened not due to a faulty system but because of people’s “sins” that have incurred the wrath of God. A number of banned militant outfits are also using this opportunity to brainwash people, already disturbed by the huge losses they suffered due to the floods.

Religious organisations such as the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FiF) and the Ummah Welfare Trust (UWT) have a strong presence in the flood-affected areas. Hindu residents of a camp said the FiF had not discriminated in providing aid. The UK-based UWT, whose coordinator said it was there to “provide relief aid and rebuild mosques”, has set up a tent settlement and distributed tents throughout the district.

Seminaries linked to the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) and the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (now known as Ahle Sunnat wal Jamaat) also contributed to relief efforts. Khalid Hussain, a teacher at the JUI (F)-linked Jamia Ashraful Uloom Farooquia, told The Express Tribune that the seminary had tried its hand at working in disaster zones for the first time.

“We felt that there was a need to help out our fellow human beings, and we were also instructed to act by the Wafaqul Madaris.” According to Hussain, the seminary had distributed Rs300,000 in cash and provided rations to 5,000 families in Tando Bago, Shadi Larj and Jhuddo.

He said objections over the role of religious organisations working in disaster areas did not matter to them, and they would continue to contribute.

Patchy supplies

As for the poor, the supply of relief goods is patchy at best, flood victims say, and several people showed World Food Program cards which only showed one delivery of relief goods, in September. “They come, write their reports and send them to Islamabad,” complained one person about the role of non-profit organisations. But in Jhuddo, an extensive relief goods distribution point was providing cooking oil, food and other rations to hundreds of people.

In Kehar Khan Lund village, residents said National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza, who represents the Badin constituency, was accompanied by a television crew on one visit and left after she was photographed and filmed. Elsewhere, there was praise for Fehmida and her husband, former MPA Zulfiqar Mirza, who have visited the area repeatedly.

Residents of Kehar Khan Lund and adjoining areas also say that they will not be voting for the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) again. One man joked that he would vote if he was paid Rs20,000, but another young man took a more serious view. “We will not vote for anyone unless they give a written undertaking that they will provide jobs.”

with additional input by

Saba Imtiaz

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Britain's Charles in plea for Pakistan flood victims</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/304059/britains-charles-in-plea-for-pakistan-flood-victims</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/304059/britains-charles-in-plea-for-pakistan-flood-victims#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 09 Dec 11 05:38:45 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[Suniya Qureshi, ED British Pakistan Foundation says Charles was 'highlighting plight of 187 million people.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Britain's Prince Charles urged the world not to forget the victims of the Pakistan floods of more than three months ago, saying their suffering was being overlooked.

The Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, a network of the 41 largest international charities, says more than five million people were affected by the floods.

Around 700,000 people remain displaced, at least six million acres were ravaged and 2.3 million acres of crops lost, it said last month.

Charles, the heir to the throne, hosted a dinner Thursday night for the Pakistan Recovery Fund (PRF) at the Natural History Museum in London.

The prince said:

Despite the scale of devastation, the level of suffering and the level of need, the story seems to vanish all too quickly from the headlines as the world's attention turns to disaster and destruction elsewhere. Yet the suffering in Pakistan goes on.

Charles, 63, is patron of the PRF, which seeks funding for community-based initiatives to help resolve the crisis. Charles and his wife Camilla visited Pakistan in 2006.

Suniya Qureshi, executive director of the British Pakistan Foundation, said the cricket corruption scandal had contributed to poor public opinion of Pakistan in Britain.

However, the "misbehaviour" of a few should not detract attention from the needs of the rest of the population.

She said Charles was "highlighting the plight of 187 million people".]]>
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			<title>Floods 2011: In Tando Allahyar, smart rebuilding means trying to bring the roof down</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/299811/floods-2011-in-tando-allahyar-smart-rebuilding-means-trying-to-bring-the-roof-down</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/299811/floods-2011-in-tando-allahyar-smart-rebuilding-means-trying-to-bring-the-roof-down#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 29 Nov 11 21:47:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[yasmeen.lari]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=299811</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[For less than Rs15,000, the Heritage Foundation helps villages install new roofs over mud walls.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Every time a new roof is set on the mud walls of a house in Mohak Sharif, 15 household members clamber on top of it and test it. This has become a new tradition in the village where the Heritage Foundation has been helping people rebuild their homes, smarter, greener and safer.

While the rehabilitation has included strengthening mud walls, the key to preparing these homes for the next flood is the Karavan Roof. The foundation already knows it works because of a successful trial of 300 houses in Swat where they held loads of up to three feet of snow.

Thus, within 12 days of the team’s arrival in Mohak Sharif, 22 houses for widows, orphans and the elderly were completed with each costing barely Rs16,000. Now, when the next floods come, the families will stay safe on their roofs along with their household goods and food rations. They will not be wading in water in search of shelter or living in displaced tents by roadside camps. This effort is part of the Heritage Foundation’s goal to find solutions for disaster-risk reduction and resistance for communities. Its initial surveys of traditional house typologies in eight districts of Sindh, supported by the International Organisation of Migration, have yielded rich results.

During the extensive surveys, it became clear that after the 2010 floods, the use of steel girders was promoted along with some other urban-style construction methods. This approach belittled the beautifully modulated traditional structures made of mud and reed and shattered the confidence of communities who assert that skills and centuries’ old knowledge has become redundant.

The people were given the message that their structures would only stay safe if they used cement concrete, steel or burnt brick. But because of the high construction cost and delivery through contractors, only about 8% of the 2010 flood survivors in Sindh could be provided shelter. And then, these very structures, which were believed to be strong, actually failed in the floods this year as the displacement of thousands of families proves. These roofs cost over Rs150,000.

Contrary to common belief, our findings show that mud walls have been particularly flood resistant. The problem is not usually the walls but the roofs, which in spite of being built with the much favoured steel girder, cause great damage to the supporting walls.

The Heritage Foundation is thus now promoting the use of improved traditional and vernacular methodologies. Scientifically built bamboo safe haven roofs are the cheapest, safest, fastest and the most appropriate option. Sustainable ‘green’ materials, ie, local earth for walls, bamboo and reeds in roof construction, along with lime or mud plaster are used to make the walls and roofs strong and weather resistant. This method yields a roof that is at least ten times stronger than those built conventionally.

The writer is CEO of Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, a cultural and social entrepreneur organization established in 1980

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Even though the water in Badin may evaporate, a residue of problems will be left behind</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/297777/even-though-the-water-in-badin-may-evaporate-a-residue-of-problems-will-be-left-behind</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/297777/even-though-the-water-in-badin-may-evaporate-a-residue-of-problems-will-be-left-behind#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 25 Nov 11 19:55:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saba.imtiaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=297777</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Small children in roadside camps are at risk of drowning or being hit by cars.]]>
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				<![CDATA[“They tossed one blanket at us,” exclaims Tikam Das, recalling a Pakistan Army truck passing through his street. “One blanket - and there are 20 to 25 families here. Their truck was stuffed with blankets.”

Das gives a tour of one tent, part of a makeshift camp on the side of the road. He laughs when asked if the camp’s residents aren’t concerned about security. Torn rillis and a few pots and pans are all they have. “Who would steal this?” he quips.

Das and another resident of the camp, Misri, argue over the support provided by the government and non-profit organisations. While Das says Hindus have been discriminated against when it comes to aid, Misri says they have not. While they have received some help, they still lack the basics - proper healthcare, a rehabilitation plan, or a system to drain the water from their inundated village. If there are no blankets or proper tents, the winter will prove to be unbearable for those who have lost everything in this year’s disaster.

For the children living in tents pitched by the side of the road, dangers lurk everywhere. “We run after our children all day to make sure they don’t fall in the water,” said one woman. The other risk is children being hit by cars passing through. Three-year-old Reshma clutches her mother. Her bandaged arm is proof of what the women claim - that Reshma was hit by a car in Zulfiqar Mirza’s son’s convoy. “They gave Rs3,000 for her arm. We had to go to Hyderabad to get it set and the joint still is not right,” her mother told The Express Tribune.

Water stretches for miles in Badin. No one knows how the water will be drained but the understanding is that it is an expensive proposition. People appear to be relying on evaporation, which could take a couple of months. Those who wanted to divert the water into the irrigation canals have been asked to pay bribes of up to Rs20,000 and the government has not listened to requests to block the waterways.

Almost four months after the unprecedented rainfall flooded Badin, people are trying to rebuild their lives. The residents of Kehar Khan Lund, a village in Badin’s UC-1, are one example. After the only school in the village was flooded, villagers set up a temporary school in a tent. Now that the water level has gone down to four feet from its initial seven, residents created a bridge - constructed of bark - to help children cross over into the primary school. Waqar Ahmed, a first-year student at Islamia College, says they carry young children across in their arms for fear they may slip and drown.

Schoolteacher Allah Dino Soomro begins classes at 8 am for the school’s 51 students, including 25 girls. There is no secondary school nearby, nor a female teacher. Soomro says he has requested the government in the past to induct a female teacher, which would encourage parents to send more girls to school.

Still, the bright-eyed boys and girls walk across water every day to study in bare rooms. The sole lavatory isn’t in their reach as it is surrounded by water too. Children happily say they want to grow up to be doctors and policemen.

But the village elders are unhappy with the government’s role in allegedly stopping aid by NGOs to their area, on the pretext that it was not impacted by the Left Bank Outfall Drain. A sit-in protest is scheduled to take place outside the Badin DCO’s office, and will continue until former MPA Zulfiqar Mirza, current MNA and National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza or the DCO make sure that the help makes its way here again.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Sindh floods: ‘Mismanagement and irregularities’ cloud relief efforts</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/297244/%e2%80%98mismanagement-and-irregularities%e2%80%99-cloud-relief-efforts</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/297244/%e2%80%98mismanagement-and-irregularities%e2%80%99-cloud-relief-efforts#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 24 Nov 11 22:04:39 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=297244</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Report accuse­s NADRA, NDMA of violat­ing humani­tarian laws.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A survey has revealed that a majority of flood survivors in the worst affected districts have not received their Pakistan cards worth Rs20,000 apiece.

The ‘Civil Society Flood Situation Report’ shows that the distribution of cards by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has been rather slow. This, coupled with alleged extortion, has led to concern over the National Disaster Management Authority’s work. The Peoples Accountability Commission on Floods (PACF) Pakistan, a network of flood-affected communities, volunteers and humanitarian activists, conducted the survey and the report was released on Thursday.

People have to queue at card distribution centres for six to eight hours which is taking its toll on the people. The women and elderly in particular, are worse off for the long waits and there have been reports of ill people dying while they wait their turn in line.

Meanwhile, new distribution systems have evolved. They are operated by agents that require people to pay bribes of Rs500 to Rs1,500 for each card. More often than not, NADRA officials ask the flood survivors to contact these agents for the cards.

The NDMA’s mess

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) also came under criticism in the report. The PACF claims that the authority violated international humanitarian laws with their decision that humanitarian aid would not be required when the floods first began. They banned cash support by humanitarian agencies and are now being blamed for increasing food insecurity among the flood-affected communities.

The report says that flood-affected communities are still suffering the setback this decision caused. International humanitarian organisations are not yet up to speed with their efforts while many of them have decided not to help at all after the NDMA first rebuked them.

The report slammed the NDMA’s ‘anti-people policy’ decision. “NDMA has issued a policy decision banning the distribution of cash grants amount among flood affected communities by national and international organisations,” it claimed. This move deprived the poorest of poor, the sick, widows, and households headed by women from basic funds and quick support that they could have spent on food and medicine, the report added.

Inadequate support

The report expresses dissatisfaction when it comes to the sanitation, food and shelter being provided. It estimates that tents and shelter have only been provided about 35 per cent of the flood-affected households.

Clean drinking water is another missing necessity in many areas. The report claims that there has been a 10 per cent decrease in the number of people receiving water from protected sources in some districts.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Floods 2011: 30% of children suffer from malnutrition</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/296592/donate-blankets-30-of-children-suffer-from-malnutrition</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/296592/donate-blankets-30-of-children-suffer-from-malnutrition#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 23 Nov 11 21:49:27 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ppi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=296592</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Islamic Relief urges people to prepare flood survivors for winter.]]>
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				<![CDATA[More than two months after the August floods, millions of people are still at great risk as humanitarian problems in the country continue to mount, said Fadlullah Wilmot, the director of an NGO, Islamic Relief, here on Wednesday.

He said that over nine million people have been affected by the monsoon floods which hit slightly over a year after the devastating floods of 2010. Millions of homes in Sindh, the worst hit region in the country have been destroyed or damaged.

In its 2011 flood response programme, Islamic Relief Pakistan, with an allocation of 10 million pounds, addressed the early recovery, healthcare, livelihood, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene needs of the flood-affected population of Sindh.

Despite these mounting problems, the funds raised for this year’s floods in Pakistan so far has been extremely low. The UN has only managed to raise $96.5 million for its $357 million appeal. Aid agencies operations are also dangerously underfunded

Adequate nutrition is still a major problem in the country - thirteen districts in Sindh saw more than 67 per cent of their food stocks destroyed and 30 per cent of children in Sindh are suffering from severe malnutrition. This time of year is also planting season, but as the fields of many farmers are still under water which will further prolong and compound the problem of hunger and poverty.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Floodwaters and hunger turn Badin’s farmers into fishermen</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295936/floodwaters-and-hunger-turn-badin%e2%80%99s-farmers-into-fishermen</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295936/floodwaters-and-hunger-turn-badin%e2%80%99s-farmers-into-fishermen#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 11 21:30:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saba.imtiaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[With farming and livestock gone, there are no jobs in the inundated parts of the district.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Ghulam Mustafa’s only training is as a cook. But this year’s floods have turned him into a fisherman. He and a teenage son have been catching the ‘jarko’ that have made their way into the standing floodwaters after fish farm boundaries broke in the August rains.


Air bubbles from the fish make their way to the surface of the water in the field outside Jhuddo. Mustafa, who has 11 children to feed, muses: “Hunger has turned me into a fisherman”. He and his son catch about 25 kilogrammes of fish every day, which is then sold in the nearest town of Tando Bhago. They sell for about Rs30 per kg, according to a farmer who has also turned fisherman.

Another hopeful fisherman is Bhanji who has cast his net into the water for the first time. Here too hunger is the motivator but all of these moonlighting fishermen are aware that this catch may not be the healthiest of options since it is breeding in stagnant water. They also come with a tinge of morbidity - the water surrounds two graveyards for Hindus and Muslims.

Fishing is just one of the limited options in this flood-hit district where farming is, until the water recedes, not much of a possibility. People do menial jobs such as transporting water or other goods. Those who cannot find work while away the days in makeshift camps by the sides of the main roads, surviving from handout to handout from non-governmental organisations.

“Someone will come and leave a kilo of wheat, or a kilo of lentils,” says Tikam Das, a middle-aged farm hand who now lives in a makeshift camp on the main Badin road. He stopped studying after the fifth grade.

Even if he has to find another line of work, not much is out there. He does not even have the Rs1,000 needed to register for a new National Identity Card, which would help him apply for the Pakistan Card - a government welfare programme that gives flood-displaced people 10,000 rupees.

In Badin district, people have traditionally made a living by rearing livestock or growing sugarcane, rice, wheat, sunflower, tomatoes and cotton. But with the monsoon rains at the tail end of the summer, these sectors took a battering. In many parts the livestock was killed or fell sick and the fields disappeared under water. Right now a little less than half the district is still struggling in the aftermath.

At the brick kilns on the Jhuddo road, which divides Badin and Mirpurkhas, there is work available. But it is for the labourers who can shift bricks from the flooded kilns into the trucks.

Those that ran the kilns have suffered a loss of hundreds of thousands of rupees. Ameer Khan, who managed one, pegs his figure at Rs800,000. His kiln produced two million bricks every year and employed 60 people.

On Monday afternoon, he was busy with preparations to drain water from his land. Labourers created a temporary embankment of sandbags, dragging them to the land ‘boundary’ with the help of a tyre. “I have spent Rs50,000 on this,” explained Khan. “I employed eight labourers who have been working on this for 10 days. Now it will cost me another Rs50,000 to buy a motor to drain the water into the neighbouring land. I took a loan and used my own money.”

Labourers have found work at other brick kilns too, where supervisors are selling off the bricks at a profit - the price has gone up from Rs5 to Rs8. As the reconstruction of houses begins in Badin, these bricks will be hard to come by since many kilns are still under water. One house requires 10,000 to 12,000 bricks.

Many people in Badin say that they are only making ends meet after having sold jewellery or livestock. However, no one has any plans for what they will do if there is a repeat of the floods next year. “We have spent our childhood here,” says one man. “Where do we go?”

Afzal, transporting his livestock back to Matli after having taken them to safety in Tharparkar when the floods hit, sees no alternative, if disaster does strike again: “God will help us... or the government.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Tribune Take: No blankets for Sindh's flood victims</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295824/tribune-take-no-blankets-for-sindhs-flood-victims</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295824/tribune-take-no-blankets-for-sindhs-flood-victims#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 11 15:46:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mahawish.rezvi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=295824</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Winter is coming to Badin, and flood victims are trapped with little shelter, and few supplies. Watch now.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In today’s episode of the Tribune Take we take you to Badin, in Sindh, where victims of this year's devastating floods lay on roadsides waiting helplessly as winter approaches. 

Saba Imtiaz, reporter the Express Tribune, discusses the issue of finding a viable livelihood for the people left homeless after the rains. Imtiaz says many farmers have turned to alternate sources of income such as fishing and brick laying to survive. Despite all their efforts however, disaster is looming in the form of the upcoming winter.

With large amounts of stagnant water in the region, winter may be much harsher for the occupants of various relief camps. Most of the camps are equipped with tents designed for hot summer months leaving flood affectees exposed and helpless as so far supplies of blankets number as low as one blanket for two to three families.

Read Saba Imtiaz’s articles here.

Follow Saba Imtiaz on Twitter.

The Tribune Take daily news web show will appear on the tribune.com.pk home page.

The Take will feature in-depth interviews and analysis with editors and reporters who are covering the major stories, exploring front page events and major ledes. The news analysis covers the way The Express Tribune examines a story, how we cover it and why.]]>
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			<title>High and dry: Floods take their toll on Swat’s agriculture</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/291499/high-and-dry-floods-take-their-toll-on-swat%e2%80%99s-agriculture</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/291499/high-and-dry-floods-take-their-toll-on-swat%e2%80%99s-agriculture#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 11 04:35:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[fazal.khaliq]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=291499</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Farmers ask government to take interest in revival of industry.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Militancy in the country not only posed a threat to the safety of the people but also crippled the livelihood of some.

Swat, which became a hub for militant activities two years ago, has since been facing numerous difficulties in its agricultural sector. Before people could grasp the damage done by militants, the floods last year further devastated Swat.

Swat Valley is an agriculturally rich land with more than 80 per cent of its population employed in the sector. However, local farmers feel their efforts to revive the industry have been permanently neglected by the government.

“We have been facing one problem after another from the beginning. A tractor for ploughing the field charges Rs900 per hour,” said Abdul Ghafoor, a farmer from Kabal town. “We are facing water shortages and there is a lack of quality seeds for production”.

The damages caused by this year’s floods are extensive and farmers feel that government and NGO support fell short of what was required.

“My entire land, which produced up to 200 sacks of rice, was washed away in the floods. I registered myself as a flood victim but till now, neither the government nor a non-government organisation has offered help,” said Rahim, local farmer and landowner.

The climatic condition in Swat is favourable for cultivating maize, which is one of the most profitable crops for farmers but currently, the crop has been banned by security forces in some areas. Riaz Khan, a local farmer, told The Express Tribune, “Maize crop was our prime money-making crop  but even that is restricted for us.”

Officials of the District Agricultural Department say that farmers are being provided technical help but the government has yet to release compensation for landowners whose land, along with their livelihood, had been washed away.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th,  2011.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Flood victims are being frozen out</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/290078/flood-victims-are-being-frozen-out</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/290078/flood-victims-are-being-frozen-out#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 11 Nov 11 04:42:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[imran.yusuf]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=290078</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Only $80 million of UN’s requested $357 million has been received so far; change in weather will intensify shortfall.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[I recently spent a day as an embedded journalist. I wore no hard hat and no body armour, just a shirt and trousers. We drove along not in a tank, but an ordinary sedan.


The ‘war’ I went to see is the most urgent conflict this country faces, despite international headlines which suggest otherwise. The war I speak of is flood relief.

Accompanying the Indus Resource Centre (IRC) to Mirpurkhas, the creeping reality of winter dominates discussion. In the tent cities they have set up in the district, in partnership with UNESCO, the pressing need is for shields against the cold. Blankets and shoes are just some of the basic requirements.

The seasonal temperature is not the only problem. Winds from the north are known to cause respiratory tract infections, with children and the elderly particularly vulnerable.

Mariam Sheikh, the IRC’s Communications Officer, says there are several other factors to consider, such as child immunity to disease. Malnutrition is already a severe issue in the flood-affected areas; the coming winter will take further toll.

Indeed, according to a recent Joint Rapid Assessment by the UN, three million people are currently in need of immediate food assistance. The same reports states that over two million acres of standing crops were destroyed during the floods.

Living in dignity

The first tent city I visited, a couple of miles outside Mirpurkhas city, holds 62 tents – each one housing a family. The IRC hopes the villagers will return home soon, but even now their village is three or four feet underwater.

All 62 families are Hindus from the ‘scheduled caste’. What this means in politically incorrect language is that on the social ladder these people are less than zero. You wouldn’t know it to see them here.

The community in this camp is organised, united and, dare I say it, happy. I asked Sajad Hussain, a project manager with the IRC, why they seemed peaceful. The people are now relieved, he tells me. “They know they are saved.”

Before the tents arrived, they had been forced to fend for themselves on the dusty road next to the tent city. Sajad tells me the women would not go to the bathroom all day – because there was no bathroom (or nearby trees or bushes). They would suffer all day and only relieve themselves at night under the cover of darkness. “Even then,” Sajad says, “they would look out for the lights of cars passing by.” The IRC has now built 250 latrines in their Mirpurkhas tent cities.

At another tent city, I observed the distribution of food. NIC card numbers were diligently verified to make sure everyone got their share. There were orderly queues, a humbling decency and calm.

As always, children seem to adjust the best. Heading off with their mother or father carrying a sack containing atta, rice, daal, oil, sugar, salt, chillies, potatoes and matches, the children were eager to help, even walking along with a skip in their stride.

At the first tent city, Mariam, Sajad and IRC colleagues distributed shelter sheets, jerry cans and other items. Mariam was distraught when she realised they were four mosquito nets short, as nearby stagnant water is fertile ground for malaria and dengue. The numbers affected by the floods are in the millions, but every detail counts.

The camp also has a temporary learning centre, which is essentially a school in a tent. UNICEF has donated about 200 of these to the IRC. In another tent city, set up largely through funds from the Turkish government, I heard children in one of these centre sing ‘Twinkle twinkle little star’. The booming rendition had more soul than a thousand playgrounds.

Teaching goes on for five hours a day. Ironically, many of the kids have never actually been to school before: it has taken a natural disaster for them to receive education for the first time in their life. The IRC hopes to continue educational projects with these communities once they return home.

For now, the community’s livestock – what remains of it – occupies a narrow patch between the camp and the road. Life will move on, eventually.

Striving in the dark

The IRC’s office in Mirpurkhas is bare-bones officialdom. Behind his desk, Saleem Ahmed, the group’s district manager, told me about the difficulties the IRC faces this year. On cue, the electricity went mid-conversation.

Lack of funds has choked their effectiveness. “The reasons for low donations are disaster fatigue, the economic crisis, lack of coverage and suspicions that aid will be siphoned off in corrupt ways,” Saleem says. “The UN also has taken its time with needs assessment surveys.”

Saleem and his team are not bitter that donations are miniscule compared to last year, merely frustrated. “This is not a job. We are humanitarians,” says Sajad. Mariam adds: “We are trying to do what we can with what we have. The IRC will be there for those affected, no matter how long.” For the 6,500 children the IRC alone looks after, these words are immense consolation.

Politics has also impeded their work. Everything is political, even in a crisis. Correction: especially in a crisis.

Local authorities, it has been reported, have discriminated against some communities. Many landlords have also not been overly keen to allow their land to be used temporarily for tent cities. Saleem also says that government departments often play favourites. Plus there are the usual messy social structues to deal with: bonded labour, feudalism and sectarianism are dark forces even at the best of times.

Saleem is realistic about the work ahead. I am amazed he is not more fatalistic. “Climate change will make this happen every year,” he says. “Ninety per cent of the cotton crop is gone. The knock-on effects are only just emerging. People will go to already over-burdened cities looking for work. The social effects will be catastrophic.”

The IRC needs your help

The IRC’s remit is to “change rural lives in Pakistan”. However, the last two years have hindered their usual work as an NGO. Projects in poverty alleviation, education, health, environment and gender are still on-going, though inevitably resources have been cut as the IRC stretches every organisational sinew to do what they can for flood relief.

Most of their donations within Pakistan come from a handful of individuals. They would like this to change. As a needs-focused and unimpeachably transparent organisation, the economic climate and disaster fatigue are surely the only reasons potential donors are put off.

With relief stocks running out, the IRC’s damage assessment charts are complete, their accounts are forensic and up-to-date, and their staff are ready and waiting. Many other charities are equally equipped.

The rest, Pakistanis, is up to you.

For more information or to donate, please email info@irc-pakistan.com

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2011. ]]>
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			<title>Flood relief: UN food agency says it is $107m short</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/285842/flood-relief-un-food-agency-says-it-is-107m-short</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/285842/flood-relief-un-food-agency-says-it-is-107m-short#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 31 Oct 11 21:45:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=285842</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sindh has distributed 8,333 metric tonnes of wheat.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[While the Sindh government’s distribution of 8,333 metric tonnes of wheat among flood survivors was appreciated by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the organisation claims it still is short by $107 million.


“We are extremely grateful for this contribution,” said WFP Pakistan Country Director Jean-Luc Siblot in a statement. “It will be vital in ensuring we can maintain our supply line to the people who still desperately need our help.”

In order to meet their target of providing food to the most severely affected up to February 2012, however, the WFP needs a further $107 million. Without further urgent donations, supplies will start running out before the end of November, making it impossible to maintain full rations. This will leave the WFP with no choice but to cut down the size of rations or the number of people assisted from December, it added.

“It also sends a message to donors across the world that Pakistan is doing all it can to assist flood victims,” the statement added.

The contribution from the Sindh government - enough to provide food to nearly 730,000 people for one month - makes up one-third of the 25,000 tonnes of wheat pledged by Pakistan to the WFP during WFP deputy executive director for operations, Ramiro Lopes da Silva’s visit last month.

Following a request from the Pakistani authorities, WFP began its emergency operation to provide food rations to people affected by the 2011 floods on September 12. To date, the agency has managed to reach over 2.4 million people in both Sindh and Balochistan, the statement added. While flood waters have begun to recede recently, many communities are still marooned and thousands of square kilometres of crops have been lost. Farmers say it will be months before they can plant again, leaving them temporarily dependent on food assistance.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>‘People are surviving on tea in Badin because there is no bread’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/285833/let-them-eat-cake-%e2%80%98people-are-surviving-on-tea-in-badin-because-there-is-no-bread%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/285833/let-them-eat-cake-%e2%80%98people-are-surviving-on-tea-in-badin-because-there-is-no-bread%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 31 Oct 11 21:05:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=285833</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[AKU holds a two-day symposium on social and economic determinants of health.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[In Badin they survive on tea and sugar because they kill the urge for solid food like roti. It was here that economist Kaiser Bengali met a woman who prayed each day that her children died because she could not feed them.


A lifetime of observing Pakistan’s poor has led him to believe that unless villages are connected to key cities and schools are fixed, we will never see social development and an improvement in health. In fact, Bengali decided to become an economist when he was 10 years old because of the niggling question: why are people poor. “I realised much later in my life that the answer lies not in economics, but in politics,” Dr Bengali said while speaking at length on the politics of social development at the start of a two-day symposium on ‘Social and Economic Determinants of Health’ at the Aga Khan University on Monday.

One of the lessons he learnt from the floods was that the feudal landlords do not draw their power from the amount of land they own, but from the control over their people. Herein lies Bengali’s solution: If the villages are connected via roads to key cities, villagers would have the choice to set themselves free.

“Poverty has a direct impact on health,” he emphasised. For example, when there is a cancer patient or dialysis patient in the household who requires medical attention for a prolonged period of time, the entire household tends to slide into poverty. “Not having a public support system is a cause for poverty.” It is almost as if apartheid has been created in Pakistan, especially in the education sector. “Surprisingly, we found out that the non-rich children supported democracy, while the English school-going elite did not,” Bengali observed.

He blamed neo-liberalism for this state of affairs and the mushroom growth of private universities that offer MBA programmes as a sign of decline in Pakistan’s fractured society.

“We are a nation who wants to consume without producing anything.” He lambasted the elite for creating cocoons in their various DHA societies, while at the same time ignoring the plight of the family of 20, who live in a 20 feet by 12 feet room.

Research:

30 cases of HIV among a group of drug users and their families was tracked down to one individual, who was a deportee from the Gulf region, according to Associate Professor AKU Dr Syed Ali.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Challenges of winter</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/285116/challenges-of-winter</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/285116/challenges-of-winter#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 30 Oct 11 16:49:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=285116</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Aid workers say donations have been thin on the ground at the local level in contrast to last year.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As the first winds of winter begin to blow across flood-hit Sindh, international humanitarian agencies have warned there is a desperate need for more resources to meet the needs of the millions of people who remain without adequate shelter or other means of protection. Some, according to media reports, are still living under nothing more than thin plastic sheets. The International Organisation for Migration, which is leading the effort to provide at least some kind of shelter to flood victims, says the situation will worsen rapidly if more assistance does not come in.

We have then a situation where millions of people in all 23 districts of Sindh and some in neighbouring areas of Balochistan may be forced to spend months without housing. Some, of course, have been hit for the second time, given they were also affected by the 2010 floods. The key issue is that the appeal made by the UN some months ago now for $357 million to meet the needs of flood victims has not been met. Only a tiny proportion of that amount has trickled in. At the same time, aid workers also say donations have been thin on the ground at the local level in contrast to last year. The National Disaster Management Authority meanwhile speaks of tens of thousands of houses which have been completely destroyed and acre after acre of crop washed away.

The advent of winter also brings with it the threat of more disease as winds from the north are known to cause respiratory tract infections, with children and the elderly most at risk. Also, though the province is in the country’s south, most of its interior districts, which is where the bulk of the affectees are, apart from Badin district by the coast, do experience a winter that would be cold enough for anyone without adequate shelter. The plight of the flood victims has been ignored by far too many of us already. If this situation continues, without greater effort made by the government and other authorities to step in, we could see the disaster that already exists growing even more grim. This is something we need to avoid at all costs by putting in a collective effort.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Food agency awaits govt’s wheat donation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/283783/food-agency-awaits-govt%e2%80%99s-wheat-donation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/283783/food-agency-awaits-govt%e2%80%99s-wheat-donation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 28 Oct 11 04:43:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[maha.mussadaq]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=283783</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[ADB provides $3 million grant for flood-affected people.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The flood waters may be receding but the challenges faced by those left in its wake are not.


The United Nations’ food agency, World Food Program (WFP), awaits wheat donations, promised by the government of Pakistan earlier this month, to meet critical needs of millions in the upcoming months.

Available resources can last till November and if fresh funding does not come in, approximately 2.5 million people could suffer, said the official spokesperson for WFP Amjad Jamal.

“Until the next planting season, the people in flood-affected areas would rely on relief assistance,” said Jamal, adding that urgent assistance is needed to meet needs till February 2012.

According to agency officials, WFP is presently experiencing a shortfall of $109 million and while the agency has received assurances ‘at the highest level’ that the Pakistan government is prepared to provide 25,000 metric tonnes (MTs) of wheat for the flood operation, the agency still awaits confirmation of the donation.

The agency’s total storage capacity currently stands to 25,000 MTs while its daily capacity to mill and fortify wheat is 1,800 MTs. The agency catered to 1.3 million flood-affected people in October and plans to cover over 61,000 beneficiaries in Balochistan.

Sources add that government actors are scaling down their food assistance programmes and handing it over to non-governmental agencies.

Food shortage in the flood-affected areas is adding to the incidence of malnutrition and to cater to that, WFP has provided fortified high-energy biscuits to 350,000 children and ready-to-eat supplementary food, Wawa Mum, to 170,000 infants in Sindh since the start of October.

The agency has also screened more than 35,500 children and 8,400 women for acute malnutrition and is working on a programme to treat acute malnutrition amongst children and pregnant and lactating women.

ADB provides $3 million

The Asian Development Bank provided a $3 million grant to Pakistan on Thursday, for the flood-affected people in Sindh and Balochistan. The emergency assistance from the bank’s Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund aims to help the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) ensure provision of food, drinking water, medicines and tents for the displaced people at the onset of winter, according to a press release issued here.

“We hope that the grant will increase NDMA’s ability to reach out to poor and the most vulnerable groups particularly women and children facing a desperate situation,” said ADB’s Country Director for Pakistan Dr Werner Liepach, after signing the agreement with Secretary Economic Affairs Division Abdul Wajid Rana.

Earlier this year, ADB provided a $650 million loan to Pakistan for reconstruction of vital infrastructure damaged by last year’s devastating floods.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 28th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Flood victims prepare to share sheets, as winter approaches</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/283197/flood-victims-prepare-to-share-sheets-as-winter-approaches</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/283197/flood-victims-prepare-to-share-sheets-as-winter-approaches#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 27 Oct 11 08:56:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ppi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=283197</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[&quot;All my three grandchildren have fever and coughs&quot; says Salim Chandio, 60.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Temperatures in Sindh's Badin District, the area worst affected by floods which began in August, are still warm, though tens of thousands of people without adequate shelter are beginning to feel chilly at night.

"At this time of year, the winds begin to blow from the north rather than the south, and it starts to feel colder at night - especially for all of us sleeping outdoors, with barely a sheet to cover us," said Salim Chandio, 60, adding, "All my three grandchildren have fever and coughs, and we are worried things will get worse if they don't get shelter."

Amina Hasan, a general practitioner who works in the town of Badin said, "Acute respiratory tract infections are always a problem among children living in cramped, crowded conditions - and things could worsen rapidly as the weather cools further in November."

According to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), which a few days ago received a new consignment of shelter kits, blankets and other equipment to help some 15,000 families in Sindh, such supplies are badly needed.

"This shipment is particularly welcome as it comes at a time when our emergency stocks are nearly exhausted. Thousands of families still need our help and winter is fast approaching," said IOM Pakistan emergency operations manager Tya Maskun in a press release, according to a report by IRIN, the UN information unit.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), as of 25 October 8,978,665 people have been affected by floods in Sindh; 462 people have been killed; 538,637 houses have been completely destroyed and more than 900,000 damaged. Sindh's population is estimated at 35 million.

NDMA said 917 relief camps are currently operating, but more help was required.

Saleem Rehmat, a public information officer with IOM, which is leading the emergency shelter cluster for flood victims said, "The international donor response to the funding appeal by UN and the humanitarian partners with regard to the 2011 flood is very bleak. With winter approaching fast, people will be requiring much-needed winterization material not only to provide them with shelter, protection and privacy, but also to save them from possible diseases to which they might be vulnerable in the absence of support."

He said IOM urgently required US$18 million to continue providing shelter and other household items to flood affected people in Sindh, as it is fast running out of contingency stocks.

Other agencies agree people need more help.

"There are still many people managing almost entirely on their own, and just living under canvas sheets," Nazir Hussain, a volunteer for the charitable Edhi Foundation, said in Badin. "Donations from local people have not been generous this time, perhaps because they are so hard hit by inflation themselves."

The UN appeal in September for US$357 million to fund the Pakistan emergency has, according to the media, had a very poor international response. The funding shortfall has been discussed in the National Assembly and at other political forums.

"We can't understand why no one will help us. Some rice has been handed out, but for the longer term we have no idea how to manage. All our livestock are lost, and our crops washed away," said Marvi Bibi, 25, who sleeps in the open with her three-week-old baby girl.]]>
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			<title>Winter is coming: Situation alarming as flood relief remains unfunded</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/273946/winter-is-coming-situation-alarming-as-flood-relief-remains-unfunded</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/273946/winter-is-coming-situation-alarming-as-flood-relief-remains-unfunded#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 14 Oct 11 10:17:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=273946</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Only 18 per cent of the $357 million target of the Pakistan Flood Response Plan achieved.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Militancy or a lack of media coverage -- which one is more responsible for leaving flood relief efforts in Pakistan critically unfunded?

According to the Media Advisor of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society Joe Cropp, the starving children of Somalia get more attention due to extensive media coverage, as compared to the flood victims of Pakistan.

According to statistics, only 18 per cent of the $357 million target of the Pakistan Flood Response Plan has been achieved so far, leaving behind 3 million people in need of nutrition assistance and 0.85 million people without any shelter.

With winter just round the corner, situation in the flood-stricken area is becoming more alarming and will get out of control if funds remain undermined.

(Read: Flood survivors: NDMA needs one million tents before winter sets in)

The reluctance in donating to Pakistan is also due to the fact that Pakistan is attributed with fostering terrorism and providing safe havens to militants.

However, Cropp urged that “the people of Sindh are not militias, they’re ordinary people, they’re farmers, they’re teachers, they need help.”

Philanthropist organizations Oxfam, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) and ACT Alliance have been insisting donors to step up to donate to flood victims of Pakistan and preventing them from “falling further below the poverty line and deeper into debt and uncertainty.”]]>
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			<title>Flood relief: Saudi Arabia promises 30,000 quilts</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/273133/flood-relief-saudi-arabia-promises-30000-quilts</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/273133/flood-relief-saudi-arabia-promises-30000-quilts#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 11 06:29:49 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=273133</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Saudi government promises to continue its efforts to help Pakistan recover from natural calamities.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A Saudi relief organization, King Abdullah Relief Campaign for Pakistan People (KARCPP) has launched flood relief work in Sindh and Balochistan during which a number of projects would be completed.

Briefing newsmen about the salient features of the campaign in Islamabad on Thursday, the regional director of KARCPP Dr Khalid Osmani said the campaign was being funded by the government and people of Saudi Arabia.

He said at the initial stage the organisation will distribute 30,000 blankets, 5,000 tents and 50,000 food packs among the victims of flood.

Dr Khalid Osmani said water supply schemes are being started in the provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan to provide clean drinking water to the flood affectees. He said a project for restoration of 76 water supply schemes in the ten flood affected districts of Balochistan would also be launched under the campaign.

He assured that Saudi Arabia would make all possible efforts to help Pakistan recover from the natural disasters and will utilise all available resources in this regard.

It has also been announced that development projects worth $7 million are being finalised in the Malakand division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Schools constructed in the region with Unicef's assistance will be handed over to the local government on October 20 this year.

Eight schools and 18 mosques will be constructed in the quake-hit areas of the north.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has also announced that it will help with major water projects in Balochistan.]]>
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			<title>Flood relief: US convoy stopped from leaving Karachi</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/272860/flood-relief-us-convoy-stopped-from-leaving-karachi</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/272860/flood-relief-us-convoy-stopped-from-leaving-karachi#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 13 Oct 11 04:18:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=272860</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Embassy officials were on their way to monitor work.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A convoy of US embassy and consulate officials were held up at the toll plaza on Super Highway on Wednesday morning by the Gadap police station personnel on the pretext that their papers, including the requisite No-Objection Certificate was not with them.

However, after a few hours, all vehicles, except for one, were allowed to proceed to their designated stop-overs in Badin and other flood-affected areas.

A US embassy official from Islamabad, Mark Stroke, denied the police version that their papers were not in order. “In fact, the approval was obtained one week before from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs according to the normal procedure,” he said.

Stroke added that not only had the names of the US embassy and consulate officials in the convoy been submitted for approval, but the vehicle numbers were also provided. About the vehicle that was sent back, he said, “There was one vehicle in the convoy that had the function of being used for mechanical work in relief operations. It was not allowed to proceed, so it was sent back.”

The argument at the checkpost where routine snap checking is conducted resulted in a delay. The spokesperson said it was unfortunate that the incident took place, when, “All that we are trying to do is work more closely with the NGOs on the ground and monitor closely the flood relief operations taking place in Badin and other towns affected.”

The US embassy claims that through its efforts and donations to international and local NGOs, more than 20,000 families affected have been provided with relief.

The spokesperson declined to comment why he thought the convoy was stopped. But said that, “Even though the police say they were carrying out a routine procedure, TV camera crews were already stationed at the spot.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Overload: Irrigation minister accepts flaws in LBOD, wants to drain district before October 17</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/272833/overload-irrigation-minister-accepts-flaws-in-lbod-wants-to-drain-district-before-october-17</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/272833/overload-irrigation-minister-accepts-flaws-in-lbod-wants-to-drain-district-before-october-17#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 12 Oct 11 21:34:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=272833</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Government is planning to seal the deal with a British Company on October 17.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The technical flaws in the way the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) was designed wreaked havoc in 1999 and again, this year, said Sindh Minister for Irrigation Jam Saifullah Dharejo.

“The problem is that the LBOD was designed to drain 4,000 cusecs of water but so far more than 20,000 cusecs of water has been drained from it.” He added that a research would be conducted to look into the issue and try to overcome it.

While speaking at a joint press conference with officials from the Chinese company that plans to help rehabilitate the flood-affected districts, Dharejo said that the government was not only working on the LBOD project but had started to conduct a research on how to get rid of the poisonous water which was flowing into Ghotki from Punjab.

The water has ruined hundreds of acres in the district and they were planning to conduct another research project which would deal with how to divert saline and seawater in order to irrigate barren land. The irrigation minister said that the government was planning to seal the deal with a British company on October 17 and conduct a study to increase the capacity of the Sukkur and Guddu barrages.

“The top priority of the government is to drain the flood water so people can start sowing the seeds for the Rabi crop by October 17,” he said. “There have been some tough situations especially in areas where there is no proper irrigation network.” He added that they were working around the clock to drain water from the districts.

While discussing the flood situation in his office on Wednesday, the minister said that 95 per cent of accumulated water had been pumped out of the rain-affected districts and the Sindh government had signed a contract with a Chinese company to rehabilitate and strengthen the irrigation system.

According to Dharejo, the project would cost around Rs6.25 billion and should be completed in two years. He added that although they had made short- and long-term strategies to deal with the irrigation systems in the province, the encroachment on drains and canals could create a problem.

On the topic of encroachments the irrigation minister said the President Asif Ali Zardari had put together a committee which would remove encroachments on the River Indus, canals, drains, ponds and lakes.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Sindh government: SC seeks report on steps to rehabilitate flood survivors</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/271447/sindh-government-sc-seeks-report-on-steps-to-rehabilitate-flood-survivors</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/271447/sindh-government-sc-seeks-report-on-steps-to-rehabilitate-flood-survivors#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Oct 11 04:56:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.zulfiqar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=271447</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Wants implementation of flood inquiry commission’s recommendations.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Supreme Court has asked the Sindh government to detail the steps it has taken for the rehabilitation of flood survivors and present a report within three weeks.


A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed hearing of former parliamentarian Marvi Memon’s complaint on non-implementation of the flood inquiry commission’s recommendations on Monday.

Additional Advocate General (AAG) Sindh presented a report in compliance with the previous order issued by the bench. He submitted that the provincial government has been providing rations to flood survivors. A huge segment of the population in rural Sindh was affected by the recent floods, which has made it difficult for the government to provide relief, he added.

“The nation had to incur losses of billions of rupees in terms of crops and livestock, but the government is determined to provide relief to people drawing on available resources.”

In answer to the chief justice’s question on how much time was required for rehabilitating flood-affected people, the AAG said water stagnating in residential areas has to be drained first which will take approximately 45 days. The court directed that the flood inquiry commission’s recommendations be implemented in letter and spirit and adjourned the case for three weeks.

On a previous hearing, the chief justice had said, “Had the flood commission’s recommendations been implemented, Sindh would not have witnessed another disaster this monsoon.”

Memon had asked the apex court to direct the commission to inspect the dykes and expedite repairs before this year’s monsoon. The commission’s report had fixed responsibility on irrigation officials for breaches in dykes and declared that negligent and corrupt officials contributed to the loss of life and exacerbated the unprecedented devastation caused by the floods.

The former parliamentarian had petitioned the court to prosecute negligent officials with a custodial sentence in her petition filed under articles 187, 190 and 204 of the constitution. The commission had assessed that the floods last year inflicted a loss of Rs855 billion on the nation’s economy.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Flood survivors: NDMA needs one million tents before winter sets in</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/271448/flood-survivors-ndma-needs-one-million-tents-before-winter-sets-in</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/271448/flood-survivors-ndma-needs-one-million-tents-before-winter-sets-in#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Oct 11 04:55:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=271448</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[NDMA Chairman says armed forces are flying helicopter sorties to reach 20,000 to 25,000 people stranded in villages.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[After devastating floods inundated most districts in Sindh, one million tents are needed to shelter thousands of displaced families before winter sets in, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

NDMA Chairman Dr Zafar Iqbal Qadir said the armed forces are flying helicopter sorties to reach an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 people stranded in villages in Tharparkar, Sanghar and Umarkot districts since water has not receded yet in many areas. “We have collected 350,000 tents so far and we need another 1 million.”

Talking to a group of reporters on Monday, he said around 13 out of 23 districts in Sindh have been affected by the recent floods that have destroyed crops, food reserves and wiped out
livestock, leaving millions of people dependant on relief.

Since the fields are still inundated in many villages and towns, farmers will not be able to sow Rabbi crops, he added. “It would be difficult for people to survive if they are not provided with alternative cash crops to compensate for the loss of traditional crops.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Credibility gap</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/271015/credibility-gap</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/271015/credibility-gap#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Oct 11 15:46:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=271015</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Morality demands we find a way to aid the flood victims and also to salvage our reputation as a state.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Lack of credibility can have very serious consequences. The people of Sindh are discovering just how grave the consequences can be, as they continue to live in the squalor of camps with insufficient facilities and suffer from a lack of food, clean water and sanitation. They must wonder, too, why no one has stepped forward to help. The intricacies of international politics and the inter-relations between the global community are, of course, not easy for villagers to understand. But it is precisely these factors that prevent help from reaching people who are badly in need of assistance.

According to a report in this newspaper, senior UN officials have informed Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar that the paucity of funds coming in is linked to concerns within the international community as to the reliability of data put out by authorities about the damage caused by flooding in Sindh and Balochistan and also about transparency in the use of the funds; other factors such as reluctance to grant visas to aid workers acts as a further impediment. It is hard to understand why our authorities should want to keep such experts away from the affected zone. Surely we would want them to play a part in solving problems.

The results of this lack of trust have been disastrous. According to the UN, only $27 million of the $357 million aid appeal has come in — a tiny fraction of the amount needed. Other agencies such as Oxfam have already described the lack of funding as a calamity. As a nation, we must consider why we have suffered such a fate. The apparent perception that a notion of ‘wolf, wolf’ may be involved in Islamabad’s description of the flood havoc is especially disturbing. As is the case in the fable, we must consider why this view exists. It is also obvious we are becoming more and more isolated. This presents enormous problems for us. The fact also is that the most helpless, the most vulnerable of people are suffering through no fault of their own. Morality demands we find a way to aid them and also to salvage our reputation as a state.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Flood relief: PPP leaders collect Rs14m at charity event</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/270442/flood-relief-ppp-leaders-collect-rs14m-at-charity-event</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/270442/flood-relief-ppp-leaders-collect-rs14m-at-charity-event#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Oct 11 06:48:23 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[z.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=270442</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Law minister says political foes are more interested in mud slinging.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[This winter, the lives of all those people who were forced to abandon their homes because of the floods will be in grave danger, said Sindh Culture Minister Sassui Palijo. “The rains and floods have not only destroyed agricultural land but have created a food crisis as well.”

While talking to the media at a charity event organised by the Pakistan Peoples Party to raise money for the flood victims in Sindh, she said that the next two months would be very tough as there could be a new wave of death and despair. She added that the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies should help the government cope with the challenge. Palijo went on to discuss how the rain had damaged historically and archaeologically important sites such as the Naukot Fort in Thar and Moen Jo Daro in Larkana. She said the fort was completely ruined whereas the old city was partially damaged. She went on to say that her ministry had set up a meeting with archaeological experts in Karachi on October 15 to review the situation. Palijo donated Rs0.5 million along with the District Government of Hyderabad and the Hyderabad Police. The Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry donated Rs100,000 and the Bohri community donated Rs72,000 to the relief fund. In total they managed to collect Rs14 million. The Punjab chapter of the party donated around Rs6 million.

The federal law minister, Maula Bux Chandio, said that they had planned to organise similar events in Karachi and Islamabad. While talking to media, the federal law minister said that their political adversaries were more interested in mud slinging as compared to raising money for helping the people who were suffering because of the floods this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Survey provides snapshot of what life was like in Sindh before the flooding</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/270445/survey-provides-snapshot-of-what-life-was-like-in-sindh-before-the-flooding</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/270445/survey-provides-snapshot-of-what-life-was-like-in-sindh-before-the-flooding#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Oct 11 06:44:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=270445</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The Federal Bureau of Statistics examined the conditions in a sample of households.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Reports on the flood-hit areas of Sindh have dominated headlines and space in newspapers for weeks now. What hasn’t been talked about much, if at all, is what life was like before the rains. As one can imagine, it wasn’t much better.


The Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey 2010-2011, conducted by the Federal Bureau of Statistics, offers a good understanding of what life was like for people in the districts that have been impacted the most by this year’s floods.

The districts of Benazirabad, Tando Allah Yar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Badin, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Tharparkar have been chosen to highlight the conditions there before the August monsoon downpour.

Of a variety of markers to determine social and living standards, a few key indicators were chosen and presented for these districts.

The survey is the sixth so far and the work will continue to 2015 in order for the government to be able to better gauge where to put its development money.

A total of 76,548 households in 5,413 sample villages were surveyed across Pakistan to assess how people were doing in the sphere of education, health, water supplies and sanitation. The fieldwork was carried out between July 2010 and June 2011, right before the flooding hit.

In this part of the picture, we present a selection of the data from Sindh where a total of 19,728 households were surveyed.

So, for example, if it shows 2% of households in Tharparkar without a toilet, it means 2% of all households surveyed and not for every house in the district.

Perception of economic situation

Residents of Sanghar and Benazirabad believe that their economic conditions have worsened over the past year. Few people across the districts described their situation as ‘better’ with the exception of some people living in Umerkot and Tharparkar. A major chunk of the sample size, above 50% in all districts, barring Tharparkar, said economic conditions were the ‘same’ as before. Nearly 58% of respondents in Badin, which has been hit the hardest by floods this year, also said economic conditions had remained constant in the past one year. But the floods, and the ensuing damage to property and crops, have changed that constant.

Household satisfaction 

Schooling scored the highest in terms of people’s satisfaction of services, ranging from 34% to almost 60%. Mirpurkhas reports the highest literacy rate with 53% of the population (10 years and older) classified as literate. Tando Mohammed Khan ranks lowest at 36% but it is female education in Badin which is depressingly low at 22%.

Rooms, motor pumps and toilets

Ranking lowest in the percentage of households with motor pumps and highest in those without toilets is Tharparkar district. This should not come as a surprise for the desert area which has a trend of using man-made wells to store drinking water because of low rainfall patterns. On the other hand, the district also boasts of households with the most number of bedrooms (between two and four) compared to the other areas surveyed.

Meanwhile, just three per cent of households in Tando Allahyar are without toilets while 62% have hand pumps and over 55% have between two and four bedrooms.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2011.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Lethargic response: Donors fear fudging of  flood data, says UN</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/270732/lethargic-response-donors-fear-fudging-of-flood-data-says-un</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/270732/lethargic-response-donors-fear-fudging-of-flood-data-says-un#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 09 Oct 11 23:22:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.yousaf]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=270732</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Flood aid appeal hamstrung by visa curbs and growing concerns about accountability.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The United Nations has attributed the sluggish response of donor countries to its emergency appeal for flood assistance in Sindh and Balochistan to real or imagined concerns that the government figures are exaggerated and do not reflect the ground reality.


The UN has informed Islamabad about the less than lukewarm response to the $357 million flood appeal and the reservations that donor countries supposedly have about pledging money and materials.

(Read: Donors skittish as UN launches aid appeal)

Official figures indicate that some eight million people have been affected and 600,000 homes totally destroyed by the flooding.

UN agencies say the rains have destroyed 73 per cent of the two provinces’ crops and 67 per cent of food stocks.

The lethargic response to the $357 million appeal is also put down to issues such as visa restrictions, lack of direct access to beneficiaries and concerns over the lack of accountability, according to a secret diplomatic cable sent last month by Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN in New York.

A copy of the cable dated September 27, 2011 obtained exclusively by The Express Tribune contains minutes of the meeting between Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos.

The purpose of the meeting held in New York on September 16 was to determine the status of the UN response to the flood in Pakistan.

Amos, who is undersecretary general for UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), apparently told Khar that the global response to the appeal had been slow, as the agency had received $27 million until then.

Amos pointed out that the donors were not convinced that “the appeal figures of the government reflected exact priorities.”

(Read: No helping hands)

The UN official, according to the cable, spoke of the concerns that donor countries raised such as visa restrictions for aid workers intending to visit the flood-hit areas. She also told the foreign minister that donors had voiced doubts about the lack of accountability for bilateral in-kind assistance received last year and media reports about unutilised money. Concerns raised by donors reflect the low credibility of the PPP-led government in Pakistan.

The diplomatic cable says the foreign minister called for better coordination of UN relief agencies with the authorities in her country. She also emphasised that needs must be prioritised. While there seemed to be clarity at the headquarters level, the OCHA country team’s tendency was to set their own priorities.

The UN relief coordinator said the appeal process was led by the government of Pakistan and therefore, the process of [damage] needs assessment had been identified along with it.

(Read: Desperate times)

In his concluding remarks, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon suggested to the government to address the concerns of donors.

“In order to seek donor confidence and promote accountability, we may alleviate donor concerns on bilateral in-kind assistance and media reports on unutilised sums [of aid money],” Haroon said.

Despite repeated attempts, the Foreign Office spokesperson Tehmina Janjua could not be reached for her official reaction.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Court notices: District government summoned over relief goods</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/267698/court-notices-district-government-summoned-over-relief-goods</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/267698/court-notices-district-government-summoned-over-relief-goods#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 11 19:53:00 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=267698</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[According to them, all 301 displaced people at the camp were not receiving rations and other relief goods.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The district court issued notices to the district government for not supplying relief goods, after a petition was filed by Ghulam Qadir Khoso and Shahid Kalohi, who live in a relief camp in a government school in Qasimabad area.

According to them, all 301 displaced people at the camp were not receiving rations and other relief goods. District and Sessions Judge Fahim Ahmed Siddiqui summoned the Hyderabad DCO, EDO revenue and town municipal administrator of on October 13.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Flood rehabilitation: ADB to fund the improvement of Sindh’s cities</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/267703/flood-rehabilitation-adb-to-fund-the-improvement-of-sindh%e2%80%99s-cities</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/267703/flood-rehabilitation-adb-to-fund-the-improvement-of-sindh%e2%80%99s-cities#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 11 19:43:34 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=267703</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Urban services have spent Rs40 million on new machinery.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will fund the Sindh Cities Improvement Project, announced Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.

The CM met with the Khairpur district government and North Sindh Urban Services Corporation (NSUSC) officials at Circuit House on Wednesday.

The NSUSC advisor told Shah that the corporation bought new machinery worth Rs40 million. The rains caused losses of Rs457 billion in 21 districts of Sindh’s 23 districts - Rs13 billion more than last year, said the chief minister.

The CM said that Rs4 billion have been earmarked for the provision of agricultural goods for affected growers to help them with their Rabi crop. He directed the NSUSC to improve the sewerage, drainage and water supply to the areas and announced that the ADB provided the provincial government with funds.

Meanwhile, the Khairpur DCO briefed the CM about rain damages, saying that 927,953 people of the district have been affected by rains, 388,638 acres of agricultural land, 274,233 acres of standing crops, 34,676 houses, 276 schools, and 511 kilometres of road were damaged in the district alone. He said 133 draining machines are operating day and night and 44 medical camps have been established.

Separately, in Tharparkar, the people in two union councils of the Deeplo tehsil have resorted to travelling primarily by boat despite 20 days having passed since the last rainfall.

Chhan Farm village, Ghulam Muhammad Rahmoon, Jan Muhammad Ahmedani, Haroon Ahmedani, Muhammad Rahim Loond, Ghani Soomro and many other villages of the Kaloi and Bhittaro union councils are still inundated.

The villagers have complained that the breaches in saline water drains have not been plugged by the irrigation department and the water is still gushing out, submerging agricultural land. WIRES

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>3m Sindh children at risk due to floods</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/267699/3m-sindh-children-at-risk-due-to-floods</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/267699/3m-sindh-children-at-risk-due-to-floods#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 05 Oct 11 19:18:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[owais.jafri]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=267699</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Their families simply can’t feed them or themselves.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The lives of at least three million children in Pakistan are at risk from malnutrition and disease because of a huge shortage in emergency funding needed to help families left destitute by the flooding in Sindh, Save the Children has said.

Only 9% of the $233 million required by the UN’s emergency appeal has so far been raised, prompting fears that millions of people will be left without food and water if more money is not found. The UN says that food and water supplies could run out in within weeks and is warning that a third of those affected could be without medical care in a month’s time.

Emergency shelter supplies will run out in the next few weeks, according to the UN. At least 5.5 million people have been affected by the flooding after torrential rains caused riverbanks to burst and overflow in late August.

The disaster left 1.8 million people displaced and forced many to flee to roadsides, railway tracks and schools in search of shelter. The downpour left three-year-old Mushtaq’s village in Badin under water. Mushtaq and his family of seven found refuge in a relief camp set up in a government-run school near Badin city.

“Mushtaq has been very weak since he was born,” his father Hanif said. “Ever since we moved to the camp he has lost even more weight and has become lethargic as well. He does not talk or play like other children of his age.” According to him there are no health facilities at the camp and they do not have sufficient food to feed the entire family. When they arrived, Hanif took him to a clinic but the medicines prescribed by the doctor were too expensive.

David Wright, who is the country director for Save the Children Pakistan, provided this assessment. “Children are distressed and are living in desperate conditions with families barely able to feed themselves. Their stocks of food have been wiped out by flooding and they don’t have the money to buy food. Some people are still completely cut off from help.” While the charity is on the ground trying to save children’s lives, the need is huge. “The world has to face up to what is happening here and fill the funding gap so aid agencies can reach millions more people.”

Save the Children is one of a few international agencies currently delivering aid in Sindh. The children’s aid agency is reaching almost 250,000 people with food, healthcare, shelter and basic household goods, as well as establishing safe play areas to help children recover from the distress caused by the disaster.

With most aid agencies focusing on the delivery of supplies to the districts of Badin and Mirpurkhas, Save the Children is also the first to start reaching out to communities in new areas such as Sanghar where 900,000 people have been affected, according to local authorities.

The children’s charity has delivered food rations to 5,000 families in the district of Sanghar. Only 145,000 people of those affected in this district are receiving assistance in camps and the rest are fending for themselves. “In Sanghar, people are living in makeshift shelters made from rushes and sticks and most families are surviving on small portions of rice, bread and vegetables,” Wright added. “Children and families are drinking from floodwater contaminated with sewage.”

The charity has launched a $20 million flood response for lower Sindh. Save the Children aims to provide support to one million people, including 600,000 children in four of the worst hit districts: Badin, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar and Tando Allahyar.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Blocking the water flow: Enlist the army’s help if needed to remove  encroachments says CM</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/266979/blocking-the-water-flow-enlist-the-army%e2%80%99s-help-if-needed-to-remove-encroachments-says-cm</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/266979/blocking-the-water-flow-enlist-the-army%e2%80%99s-help-if-needed-to-remove-encroachments-says-cm#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 04 Oct 11 19:53:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=266979</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[‘Action will be taken against anyone no matter how influential they are’.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has ordered government officials to remove encroachments from canals, drains and other water channels, even if they need the help of the Pakistan Army.

“If necessary, the help of Pakistan Army can be sought to resolve the problem,” he said while presiding over a meeting with irrigation minister, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, irrigation secretary,  Khalid Haider Memon, Brigadier Anas Asad, the general manager south of Water and Power Development Authority (water wing), Muhammad Javed Riar, and former secretary of irrigation Idrees Rajput. Sindh Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas was also present at the meeting.

Shah said that action has to be taken against all illegal encroachers, irrespective of how influential they are. The panel informed the chief minister that that Digri and Jhudo tehsils are still submerged. Rain water is being drained from Umarkot via Naukot, through spinal drains into the Shakoor Dadh Lake.

The Phuleli-Guni Outfall Drain, Dhoro-Puran Outfall Drain, and spinal drains are old water channels and overflowed because of breaches in the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD). Most of the problems occurred in drains, not in canals, they said. Shah said that old water channels should be restored to maintain a smooth flow of water for them. He ordered that water should be drained from Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Jhudo, Shahdadpur, Tando Adam, and other cities. “Water is being drained from Shaheed Benazirabad and Badin, where the situation will be normal soon,” he said.

The rain water should be put to use and reservoirs should be constructed to supply water to Thar, he added.

Idrees Rajput emphasised the need to drain water from all the areas. The second priority, he said, should be to reclaim the cultivable land. “The designed capacity of LBOD is 11,714 cusecs of water,” said Rajput. “Around 14,000 cusecs were released into it which created the problems.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Unless Sanghar’s stagnant street water is cleared up, disease will persist</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/266308/unless-sanghar%e2%80%99s-stagnant-street-water-is-cleared-up-disease-will-persist</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/266308/unless-sanghar%e2%80%99s-stagnant-street-water-is-cleared-up-disease-will-persist#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 11 21:48:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[heba.islam]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=266308</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A weak Sim Nala and destroyed sewage system led to the problem.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A month on from the devastating rains, water levels continue to remain unnaturally high in Sanghar, with some locals and officials pointing the finger at politicians and landowners for reportedly worsening the crisis.

Roads in the district overflow with water, mixed with sewage, as the sewage system in the main town has been destroyed.

Even UNOCHA Sindh Director Fawad Hussain has said, although cautiously, that the stagnant water in Sanghar town “did not come as a result of the natural water flow”.

Manipulating the
waterways

Flood survivors here themselves claim that landowners around their villages have manipulated the canals and irrigation systems in such a way that when floods come, their own lands are protected while areas surrounding their fields are inundated.

Prem Sagar works with Development Contributors, known as DevCon, in the area. He says that the unnatural flooding of Sanghar town was caused by the manipulation of the Sim Nala by landowners.

“The water isn’t really supposed to head for the city, which is higher than the surrounding areas,” he explains. Additionally, resources were allocated to strengthen the nala with concrete so that when water pressure went up, it would be able to take the pressure. But the money was “never used by the local authorities”. What happened, as expected was that the mud embankments collapsed.

The people living in the area have noticed all of this even if they aren’t able to do anything about it. One of them is Ali Baksh, who was displaced from his village of Sonay Fakir Kotto to a makeshift camp run by DevCon and the International Organisation of Migration. “Next time they come and ask for my vote, I will say no,” he said angrily referring to the elected representatives from the area. “They have done nothing for me. They’ve taken away everything.” Another woman in the camp, Tajjaa, backed this claim. “We’ve never had to beg till now. My brother travelled to another village to get back one kilogramme of flour. We have nothing to eat.”

The need of the hour

Ten minutes from the camp is a World Food Programme distribution centre working in collaboration with Save the Children. When asked why people within walking distance had no food,  UNOCHA’s Hussain explains, “We are trying to provide food for six districts, but we only have food for 10,000 families.” He says that since all six district need to be provided for within their limited funds, people within each district are left without food.

Hussain adds that another problem is that buses carrying food get looted, so that by the time they reach their destination they have nothing at all. “Only 6% of the UN appeal has been met [so far],” Hussain says. Even more worrying however, is the reality that all government stocks for flood victims will be depleted by October 10.

Negligence 

Meanwhile, the destroyed sewage system is worrying doctors.

One of them who is volunteering for the UK-based NGO Muslim Aid says that the most widespread diseases in the area are scabies, malaria and diarrhoea.

And this problem will persist until the stagnant water in the streets is cleared. The suction pumps are constantly promised by Sanghar’s DCO but never come, he added. UNOCHA’s Hussain says another problem with the spread of diseases is that there are no labs where people could be properly diagnosed, especially when it comes to differentiating between malaria and dengue.

MNA from Sanghar, the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional’s Khuda Bakhsh Rajar was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts to contact him.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Millions at risk: Pakistan needs to own this crisis and then seek aid says WFP</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/266283/millions-at-risk-pakistan-needs-to-own-this-crisis-and-then-seek-aid-says-wfp</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/266283/millions-at-risk-pakistan-needs-to-own-this-crisis-and-then-seek-aid-says-wfp#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 11 21:35:34 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[azam.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=266283</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Mobilisation of resources, emergency relief work need to be visible, says da Silva.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan needs to own this crisis and then get the attention of the international community, stressed the World Food Programme’s Ramiro Lopes da Silva on Monday, while warning that millions of lives are at stake in Sindh unless more attention is paid to mobilising resources.

The situation is alarming but hasn’t received the attention it deserves, the deputy executive director remarked at a press briefing on Monday.

When asked about the response from UN agencies and donors, he replied that there should be an independent assessment on the flood devastation in Pakistan to pressure donors at home and abroad. National and international public opinion needs to be mobilised to push politicians to respond to the crisis.

Right now, there is no visibility of the mobilisation of resources and emergency relief work in the flood-affected areas, he said. Meanwhile, the WFP has exceeded its target of providing life-saving food assistance to 0.5 million people in Sindh as of the end of September. Damage to roads, bridges, and infrastructure continues to challenge the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The WFP has provided almost 8,800 metric tons of monthly family food rations to nearly 608,000 people in six districts since the distributions started on September 12. The six priority districts are Badin, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Tharparkar, Nawabshah and Umarkot.

“The WFP plans to scale up deliveries in October to cover 2.25 million people across Sindh and Balochistan over the next four months,” he said, adding that in preparation they are contracting additional cooperating partners.

Da Silva referred to the recent National Nutritional Survey that highlights alarming levels of malnutrition in Sindh.

This is why the WFP’s one-month rations include - alongside the general family food basket - high-energy biscuits and ready-to-use supplementary food to address an expected nutritional decline among these vulnerable groups.

A joint rapid initial assessment has been conducted in 11 flooded districts of Balochistan. “Preliminary data suggests that food is the most urgent need,” he said, adding that stocks have been destroyed and access to markets has been severely hampered.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Water, water, nowhere</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/265933/water-water-nowhere</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/265933/water-water-nowhere#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 11 15:53:18 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahrah.nasir]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=265933</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It has long been forecast that the next world war will be ignited by a paucity of water.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It is good to know that the Punjab government is, at long last, paying serious attention to the vagaries of climate change. Although, as per usual, absolute and utter idiocy appears to be the rule of the day. Proudly boasting with the ludicrous fanfare it so revels in, that it is initiating flood protection measures which ‘will last 100 years’. The provincial government and its consultants, the latter in the form of the Asian Development Bank — which should know better — intends kicking this off with the $900 million upgradation of the Sulemanki and Trimmu barrages. Both of these were constructed in 1927 and are in dire need of maintenance and desilting. The idea behind this is would be to help manage the flood waters that pass through them in future years, so that the devastation downstream, especially in Sindh, could be minimised. Of course, it should be remembered that this year’s flood in Sindh was caused mainly by record high rain in that province.

These barrages, along with all other outdated barrages north and south of Sulemanki and Trimmu, have been in need of serious attention for a number of decades, as have the majority of canals, bunds, embankments and spurs along the way. To single out the two aforementioned barrages without simultaneously upgrading all other related components is asking for major trouble, as is the rapid disposal of potentially astronomical amounts of valuable water which is so badly needed for human consumption, agricultural use and for increasing indigenous energy production instead of, in the case of the latter, resorting to costly imports on a long term basis. An increased incidence of extreme climate events as are now globally occurring, does not only mean the likelihood of heavy precipitation during unpredictable monsoons but also an expansion in periods of extreme drought. This, according to experts, could well transform Pakistan from an agricultural to an almost desert nation over the next ‘100 years’.

It would thus, even to the most incompetent of bodies, make more sense to figure out every possible way to capture and then store any ‘excess’ drop of water rather than too guarantee its swift dispersal downstream, where its speeded up flow could damage, if not totally wreck, water systems to the south, submerging already battered villages and farmlands in the process; to say nothing of the people and livestock that live there.

It has long been forecast that the next world war will be ignited by a paucity of water. Ever-reducing river flows from India, combined with shrinking glaciers in our north and clearly evident extended periods of annual drought in agricultural regions, highlight a dire need to conserve and, wherever possible, add to our currently inadequate water stocks. In that context, it was time (in fact the time has long gone but something has to be done) for all provincial governments as well as the federal government itself, to take seriously cognisable steps towards ensuring some workable form of water management and conservation. This is the only way that we will be able to cope with what may come in the future. On the surface, at least, the Punjab government is set on proving its track record of making dangerous mistakes.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2011. ]]>
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			<title>International community failing Pakistan flood response: UN</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/266018/international-community-failing-pakistan-flood-response-un</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/266018/international-community-failing-pakistan-flood-response-un#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 11 15:29:07 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=266018</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan's cause is hampered by criticism of its alleged double dealing with militants, misappropriating flood funds.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The United Nations warned on Monday that the international community had failed to respond to the latest flooding crisis in Pakistan, leaving three million people in urgent need of food handouts.

The nuclear-armed Muslim state has suffered two consecutive years of floods but has been at increasing risk of international isolation since US troops found and killed Osama bin Laden near the capital in May.

"Somehow the present flooding and the humanitarian impact of the present flooding has not yet picked the interest, the focus of the world," said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, deputy executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP).

"If we have no resources, we have no response," he told a news conference in Islamabad after visiting the flood-hit southern province of Sindh.

On September 18, the United Nations led an appeal for $357 million in emergency funding to shore up rescue and relief efforts for millions of people suffering after floods swept away homes and farm land in southern Pakistan. Last year, the UN had led an appeal for $1.9 billion in one of the worst natural calamities of the past decade, though support was shortcoming.

"The funding is not coming as swiftly and as fast at the levels it came to the response of the floods of last year," said Lopes da Silva.

"Donors are being challenged by the level of resources required to address similar needs of humanitarian situations across the world," he added.

Last month, the United Nations said only the Japanese government had pledged $10 million in response to the appeal.

The Pakistani government says more than 350 people have been killed and over eight million people affected this year by floods, following the 21 million hit last year in the nation's worst ever disaster.

The WFP official said three million Pakistanis were in urgent need of food security and said the UN agency would help "2.4 million of those severely affected by food insecurity".

Pakistan has been forced to fend off charges of mishandling the crisis by failing to invest in adequate measures to mitigate against seasonal rains, after last year's floods caused losses of $10 billion.

The country has faced increasingly trenchant criticism in the West for its alleged double dealings with militants opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir and fighting American troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.]]>
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			<title>Sanghar desperately tries to drain MA Jinnah Road - only to have more water flow in</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/265441/sanghar-desperately-tries-to-drain-ma-jinnah-road-only-to-have-more-water-flow-in</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/265441/sanghar-desperately-tries-to-drain-ma-jinnah-road-only-to-have-more-water-flow-in#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 02 Oct 11 20:42:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[z.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=265441</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A week in and barely 25% of commercial activity has been restored on roads.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Sanghar remains underwater with no immediate signs of a drop in the water level. The government’s efforts to drain the district, meanwhile, are being met with suspicion by the business community.

Eid, on August 30, brought with it a second spell of monsoon rains that left the cotton-rich district under several feet of water. The authorities are now faced with the knotty situation of draining out that water. Their solution - an improvised drain dug along the city’s trade centre on MA Jinnah Road.

The drain — about 500 metres long, six foot deep and four foot wide — is meant to draw water from the district and direct it towards a natural route to the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD), explained the town municipal administrator, Maluk Khaskheli. “It will pump (water) off towards the Sanghar-Khairpur square. From that point, the water will flow over the agricultural fields towards the LBOD.”

Khaskheli explains that a pump, 12 inches in diameter has been installed to suck out water from MA Jinnah Road while other areas still await their pumps.

Issues arise, however, when you take into account the fact that MA Jinnah Road has a number of shops located all along it. Liaquat Market, Saeed Market, Shahi Bazaar, Nawabshah Road, Thana Road are markets that sell everything from agricultural inputs and goods to grocery, jewellery, cosmetics and medical stores.

The business community considers the plan ineffective. “They dug the ditch on Saturday and, by that evening, the process of sucking water out began. Yet, almost two days into it, we still find our legs in as much water as they were then,” bemoans Malik Sher Muhammad, senior vice president of the Sanghar Chamber of Commerce.

He highlighted a number of reasons for the plan’s failure. “While they try to drain out water from MA Jinnah Road, the water from the surrounding areas pours in onto the road. Besides, the LBOD is flowing to its full capacity and may not even take more water.”

For Muhammad, any efforts towards drainage should include pumping water from all connected areas simultaneously. “Our delegation called on the DCO a day ago and we asked him to throw water into the Bhan Distributary which is empty. But our advice has not been followed,” he said, taking a jab at the lack of official coordination between the district administration and business community.

The chamber’s Haji Yameen Qureshi, who trades crops and runs a shop on the road, accuses the municipal administration of procrastination. “It has been over two weeks since it last rained. The work which should have taken place then still lacks a sense of direction.”

Qureshi, like Muhammad, also objects to the diversion of water towards the LBOD but suggests that it should be towards Ghaat Parah, which, according to him, is a natural drain. “They need to understand the city’s geography first before making a move.”

Two years ago, the former Sanghar nazim laid a new sewerage system in the area. However, the lines have become choked with sludge.

Apart from traders, the agriculturalists, whose crops lie ruined under several feet of water, wonder when they will be able to plough their lands again.

“The coming days (look bleak for the growers) if urban areas on higher grounds find it difficult to create an outlet for water,” remarked Hassan Askari, the Sindh Small Growers Association general secretary.

Sanghar, the country’s top cotton producer, expected to harvest four million bales this year from over 360,000 acres sown. But floods in the irrigation channels have drowned that prospect along with the city itself.

Askari said that he heard an irrigation official say that the quantity of floodwater in Sanghar is equal to the water table in the Mangla Dam. “Until the districts above Sanghar are emptied of water, and drains in Badin carry that water to the sea, Sanghar will remain underwater.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Desperate times</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/265257/desperate-times</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/265257/desperate-times#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 02 Oct 11 15:43:09 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=265257</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The people of Pakistan are known for their philanthropy but the media should be used to launch an extensive campaign.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The sight before us is not a pretty one at all. Millions of people, notably in the province of Sindh, are in desperate need of help after floods which according to the UN displaced 1.8 million, killed 415 destroyed over a million houses and swept away crops over 2.16 million acres.

It is quite obvious a huge amount of work needs to be done. The problem appears to be that there is no money to do it. The UN has said an appeal for US $357 million made two weeks ago has been funded by only six percent. This is merely a drop in the ocean when seen against the swirl of waters that leave people helpless and hopeless. It is quite obvious that without a massive mobilization of funds not enough can be done to assist them. The UN agencies and other groups on the ground are doing what they can; food supplies are being provided by the World Food Programme and Unicef is offering clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. But these international agencies warn that they will soon run out of money and be unable to do anything at all. In other words, people will be left quite literally to fend for themselves even though they are in no position to do so. Some of those affected were also hit by floods last year and have yet to recover from the crippling blow delivered by that catastrophe. They simply cannot sustain more hardship. The struggle to keep children and the sick alive is already on. The Sindh government had announced an emergency situation in all the districts of the province. But there is no certainty what this has resulted in or whether the schemes announced by the Prime Minister after his visit to the affected areas have had any impact in real terms.

One question we need to ask ourselves is why there appears to have been less compassion and concern for the flood victims this year compared to 2010. It is true the international community is displeased with the lack of transparency in the use of donations doled out at that time and has already made it clear more funds will not be offered until a proper accountability mechanism is set up. But even within the country there seems to be too little concern and only a relatively limited effort to deal with what is a calamitous situation. Perhaps they have simply run out of the energy to cope with yet another disaster; perhaps they have no money to spare and maybe there has been too little publicity given all the other crises that we face on so many fronts.

But this of course is not the fault of the stricken people of Sindh. The latest UN statement has made clear just what their plight is. The question to be asked is what is to be done to assist them. Emergency measures are required. We cannot simply wait and watch — or rely entirely on the international agencies that seem to be doing what they can. A draining away of what limited funds they still retain would be a disaster. Even the hands now at work would be tied. So, do we have solutions? They are not easy to find. The amounts the government has been able to persuade China and Iran to offer have not been very generous. Other than this, assistance from other countries has not been exactly forthcoming (perhaps because of a credibility problem following last year’s floods). At the official level we need to find more friends and draw international attention to the urgency of the situation and the fact that the people of an entire province appear to have simply been forgotten and left literally marooned in their own misery.

At home, greater fund-raising efforts are needed. The people of Pakistan are known for their philanthropy but the media should be used to launch an extensive campaign asking for sustained help, and by providing audiences with figures such as those above mentioned by the UN. All of this, of course, suggests that we learnt nothing from last year’s devastation. It indicates also that the federal and provincial disaster management authorities need to be far more proactive and efficient than they have been thus far in the distribution of flood relief, and in the drawing of contingency plans for the future.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 3rd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Floods 2011: Standing against waves of neglect</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/265016/floods-2011-standing-against-waves-of-neglect</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/265016/floods-2011-standing-against-waves-of-neglect#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 02 Oct 11 05:22:54 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[z.ali]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Hindu-majority village in Umerkot integrates efforts to subsist on its own.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Qazi Ghulam Rasool Pali, home to around 450 flood victims in Umerkot district, stands distinguished among hundreds of inundated villages in Sindh; but not because of its Hindu-majority population.


It is because in the face of neglect from aid agencies and the government, while their houses are razed to the ground in the aftermath of the floods, the villagers stand united, Hindus and Muslims, landlord and peasants, alike.

Located in the Pithoro tehsil along Mirpurkhas-Umerkot road, Qazi Ghulam Rasool Pali’s residents make integrated efforts to subsist on their own, along with the help of their landlord. “We sell our goats in Mirpurkhas and buy rations from the money we earn,” says Wagio Bheel, an elderly of the village.

According to Bheel, the rations are distributed equally among the residents of the village. “Livestock owners, especially those who have more animals, go to the city with 10 to 12 goats. After selling them in the market, they return with the ration,” says villager Tharo Halepoto. He adds that this has been done twice so far.

During the recent trip, he said, they managed to sell nine goats for Rs51,000 — which is less than half the price in normal times. “Among the goats, three belonged to Hindus and six to Muslims but the distribution of the ration was equal,” Halepoto claims.

‘One village, one family’

People of eight different castes, including four of scheduled caste Hindus, inhabit the village. They all are workers of Imtiaz Pali, in whose father’s name the village was founded seven to eight years ago.

“The landlord kept providing us with free ration, mainly wheat and rice, for many weeks after the rains. Although he still contributes to our well being, we all realised that we should not put too much burden on him,” says resident Krishan Meghwadh.

According to Pali, the village houses around 130 families, mostly Hindus. Ninety per cent of the families, he adds, have been tilling his family lands for over a century.

“We live like a family. We have no difference while participating in each other’s religious festivities,” he says.

Neglected

Although the village is located along Mirpurkhas-Umarkot road, which was being used as an alternate route to convey relief goods to areas of Tharparker district, no official or private assistance has reached them, the locals say.

Over a hundred tents made of urea and gunny bags and used clothes line an L-shaped link road which leads to the landlord’s house. “You will not find any tent here given by the government or private organisations,” says Wahid Arisar, another elderly. “It’s a natural calamity. We have lost crops this year,” says Pali. Nevertheless, he demands that the government should waive of the agricultural loans and offer fresh ones with a low mark-up and relaxation period. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Sindh to ‘formally request’ federal government for money</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/264912/sindh-to-%e2%80%98formally-request%e2%80%99-federal-government-for-money</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/264912/sindh-to-%e2%80%98formally-request%e2%80%99-federal-government-for-money#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 01 Oct 11 22:03:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=264912</guid>
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				<![CDATA[The UN has sent $22 million while the provincial govt  releases Rs5 billion.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Sindh government will formally ask the federal government to hand over the funds it promised for the relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected people.

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah met with the committee the prime minister put together to help the provincial government with the crisis at CM House on Saturday. He said that the prime minister had promised to pay Rs20,000 to each family affected.

Shah stressed the need for better coordination between local helpers and foreign NGOs so as to allow them to get to areas where the people’s need is greater.

MNA Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Senator Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, Rehabilitation Minister Haji Muzaffar Shujra, Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas, NDMA Chairman Zafar Iqbal Qadir, Sindh PDMA Chairman Saleh Farooqui, Additional Secretary to President AK Ansari, Ishaq Lashari, the committee’s convener, Arif Ahmed Khan, and the finance, food, irrigation and livestock secretaries were also at the meeting.

The meeting was told that the Sindh government has released Rs5 billion for relief work while another Rs1 billion have distributed as Pakistan Cards in Badin and Tando Muhammad Khan. In order to distribute Pakistan Cards in Benazirabad and Sanghar, they will need more funds.

The committee’s problems

The committee’s convener, Arif Ahmed Khan, told the gathering of the two major issues. The first is problem is of how to drain stagnant rainwater out of marooned areas and the second is protecting people from malarial diseases that are breeding in the stagnant water.

He claimed that the provincial health department has imported insecticides from France and India and 500 fumigation machines will be needed to clear all affected areas.

Khan estimated the number of people affected to be eight million and said that the National Disaster Management Authority has distributed two million family packs of ration and 310,000 shelters.

Clusters of United Nations agencies and NGOs have also begun working in areas while people have begun returning home in areas from where the water has receded.

He has written to all the DCOs asking them to identify high-level areas in their districts where tents can be set up in case of flooding or torrential rains in the future. These areas will be developed as places for tent cities and be supplied with electricity and hand pumps to extract ground water.

UN dispatches money

Senator Nayyer Bukhari said $22 million have been received of the $350 million promised by the UN. He said the federal government understands the needs and constraints of the Sindh government and will make all possible efforts to release the funds needed.

He pointed out that the president and prime minister are keen to help and have contacted the UN and heads of states asking for help. He asked the provincial government to submit a brief stating their needs in time for the prime minister’s meeting with the World Food Programme delegation next week. Meanwhile, in areas where the water has receded, farmers require financial support in order to sow wheat and sunflowers.

The gathering was told that about 4.5 million animals have been moved to safer areas in the desert and the livestock department has chalked out a feeding plan for next 15 days that requires Rs600 million.

Meanwhile, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Badin are in desperate need of mosquito nets and 70,000 nets and 20,000 water purifiers have been ordered.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>LBOD: The culprit behind recurring floods in Sindh?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/263570/lbod-the-culprit-behind-recurring-floods-in-sindh</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/263570/lbod-the-culprit-behind-recurring-floods-in-sindh#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 11 03:47:18 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[farooq.tirmizi]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[The Left Bank Outfall Drain has several design flaws that cause leakages, but are there any solutions?.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Did poor design of an internationally-funded drainage system really exacerbate the devastation from the floods in Badin or is it simply a convenient excuse to blame ‘arrogant’ foreigners for a natural calamity?


A review by The Express Tribune of technical documents prepared by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank about the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) project reveals that while the international lenders may indeed share some of the blame for the damages, much of the damage may have been caused by natural topography, the politics of Partition, and negligence on the part of the government.

The LBOD has been blamed by civil society groups since the 1990s for altering the drainage and water flow patterns in lower Sindh – specifically Badin and Thatta – and worsening the flooding in those two districts. Yet the matter is somewhat more complicated. The LBOD, for instance, has brought about massive benefits for middle Sindh, especially Nawabshah, Sanghar and Mirpurkhas, and has allowed nearly half a million hectares to be brought back under cultivation that had been abandoned due to water-logging and salinity.

Correcting flaws in the Sukkur Barrage

The Sukkur Barrage – the largest in the world – is often considered an engineering wonder by most Pakistanis. Yet many seem unaware that its associated canal system has a serious design flaw: because nearly all of the canals are earthen, rather than lined with concrete, they cause the water table in the areas they irrigate to rise, eventually rendering them so waterlogged as to be uncultivable.

This problem was initially left completely unchecked, and for the first three decades, farmers would frequently create makeshift drains to drain out the excess saline water back into the canals, exacerbating the problem in the process.

In the 1960s, the government decided to create a more permanent solution to the water-logging/salinity problem. A 100-mile spinal drain was built in the 1970s in middle Sindh, but suffered from a political flaw: part of the water was drained into the Shakoor Dhand, a body of water that Pakistan shares with India.

In the early 1980s, therefore, the government began exploring other options for drainage, especially focusing on stretching the spinal drain out to sea.

Construction on the LBOD began in 1985 and was completed only in 2002, about nine years behind schedule. The project was initially meant to cost about $654 million, but ran 47% over cost, eventually costing $963 million. It was partially financed by a consortium of eight international lenders, including the World Bank and the ADB, though most of the cost was borne by the government.

One weak link

The problem with the LBOD is not the entirety of the drain but rather one specific portion of it, known as the Tidal Link, which connects the drain to the sea. The drain suffers from several design flaws which cause it to start spilling water into the neighbouring region rather than taking it out to sea, a problem acknowledged by both the World Bank and the ADB.

The original design of the LBOD anticipated this problem and created what was known as the Cholri Weir, to prevent the water from leaking into and damaging the surrounding area, most of which consists of dhands – small bodies of water that grow in size depending on the rainfall level.

The problem, however, is that the Cholri Weir was destroyed in 1999 by a cyclone and the government decided – for reasons that now appear flawed – not to repair it, a decision supported by the international lenders.

In normal years, the absence of the Cholri Weir is not a substantial problem, since the water still flows out to sea. However, any rainfall that exceeds 125 mm over a 24-hour period renders the Tidal Link useless, even harmful.

During heavy rains, the dhands themselves swell to several times their normal size and, coupled with the excess flow of water leaking from Link, contribute to the flooding in Badin district, usually one of the worst hit areas of Sindh in any flood. The degree to which the design flaw contributes to the flooding, however, remains a matter disputed between civil society groups and international financial institutions.

Another of the design flaws is that the Tidal Link flows against the natural drainage patterns of the region, though this cannot really be fixed: following the natural drainage would lead the link to flow into India, an arrangement New Delhi is unlikely to agree to.

Concrete solutions

Neither the World Bank nor the Asian Development Bank offer any solutions – at least not directly. Most NGOs protesting the LBOD complain the global lenders violated their own rules for engaging the community before the construction of the drain (a problem that the ADB and the World Bank acknowledged in nearly every report), yet seem to ignore the fact that the drain was needed in the first place.

The solution, it appears, is likely to be an expensive one: lining the canals with concrete. The World Bank’s assessment of the programme, conducted in 2006, stated that had the Cholri Weir been a concrete structure rather than mud-built, it would have withstood the storms that frequently hit the district.

It is unclear if the government has the will, or the money, to implement such a solution.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Flood relief: Govt to add 25,000 tonnes of wheat to WFP rations</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/263488/flood-relief-govt-to-add-25000-tonnes-of-wheat-to-wfp-rations</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/263488/flood-relief-govt-to-add-25000-tonnes-of-wheat-to-wfp-rations#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 11 01:41:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[The contribution is meant to encourage donors and help the WFP.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The Sindh government will support the World Food Programme’s flood relief efforts (WFP) by providing 25,000 metric tonnes of wheat for free.

“This will be done to compliment the WFP’s food basket in order to avoid any break in supply in the coming months,” Chief Secretary Sindh Raja Muhammad Abbass assured Ramiro Lopes Da Silva, the WFP deputy executive director, at a meeting on Thursday.

WFP spokesman Amjad Jamal told The Express Tribune that the chief secretary has asked the food department and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) to check if there are stocks available. Da Silva, who has come from Italy to visit the flood-affected areas of Sindh, welcomed the government’s offer.

“The in-kind donation of the provincial government, particularly wheat or wheat flour, will encourage donors and help the WFP to mobilise further resources for the UN Flash Appeal for Flood Response 2011.”

The WFP has begun distributing rations in Badin, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Tharparkar and Mirpurkhas. About 53,488 families will be provided a month’s ration by Wednesday. “We are on target to reach 0.5 million beneficiaries by the end of September and aim to reach 2.2 million by October,” said Da Silva.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Sindh not dry enough to set up tent cities</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/263686/sindh-not-dry-enough-to-set-up-tent-cities</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/263686/sindh-not-dry-enough-to-set-up-tent-cities#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 11 01:02:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[z.ali]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=263686</guid>
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				<![CDATA[While many districts are still inundated, other places are too wet to pitch tents.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Relief work is more challenging in Sindh this year as aid agencies have not been able to find enough dry land to make tent cities. 


While many districts are still inundated, other places are too wet to pitch tents. Also, most people affected by the floods are living in areas which are not accessible by road.

(Read: Floods 2011 - Thousands of villages yet to be reached)

“Unlike the floods which devastated the whole country last year, the situation this year is more challenging in Sindh,” says Qaisar Khan Afridi, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Instead of setting up tent cities where thousands of people can be accommodated, we are distributing tents in affected villages,” Afridi said. “We will still do our best to reach out to the scattered population,” he added. The agency has sought $33.2 million from donors to scale up its operations. Currently, the UNHCR is working in Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts, and will soon start working in Umerkot and Thar.

Separately in Sanghar, a delegation of UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs requested the district administration to identify dry locations for tent cities. Sanghar is the worst affected district,” said Fawad Hussain from the UNOCHA team.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>World Food Program to begin survey in flood-hit Sindh</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/263145/world-food-program-to-begin-survey-in-flood-hit-sindh</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/263145/world-food-program-to-begin-survey-in-flood-hit-sindh#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 11 13:15:54 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[ppi]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=263145</guid>
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				<![CDATA[WFP discusses ways for swift relief and assistance to flood victims with Sindh Chief Secretary.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A technical team of the World Food Program (WFP) will begin a survey of rain and flood-hit areas of Sindh province from Friday to assess the immediate food needs of millions of the displaced families.

In this regard, a six-member delegation led by Deputy Executive Director WFP Ramiro Lopes da Silva called on Sindh Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas at his office here Thursday and discussed the ways for swift relief and assistance to the survivors in the flood and rain-hit districts of the province.

Chief secretary assured all out assistance to the WFP team regarding their visit to affected districts. He said about eight million people have been affected by devastating rains in Sindh and the government has already taken steps for the rescue and relief. He said that immediate cash assistance of Rs20,000 would be given to each affected family through 'Pakistan Cards' being issued by National Database Registration Authority (NADRA), while during next two months each family would be paid Rs5,000.

He thanked the services of the WFP and other donor agencies for their help in relief and rehabilitation of the flood and rain survivors in Sindh.

Army to the rescue of flood victims

Pakistan Army rescued at least 65,000 persons and distributed 1,000 tons of rations among flood victims in Sindh through helicopters and by road, said Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a press release on Thursday.

According to ISPR,  the Army established a field hospital and nine medical camps at different areas including Sanghar, Mir Pur Khas, Omer Kot and Badin. Army doctors have claimed to have treated more than 85,000 patients.

Last year, the Army helped the flood victims by collecting aid worth Rs1069 which was spent in various relief programs including reconstruction of educational institutes, homes and health facilities, said ISPR.

IOM provides shelter and food to flood-stricken Sindh

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) diverted 7,000 emergency shelter and non-food relief item (NFI) kits from a contingency stockpile in Punjab to meet the huge demand for emergency shelter in Pakistan's flood-stricken Sindh province, said a statement released by IOM.

The kits, each of which contains two plastic tarpaulins, ropes, two blankets, a kitchen set, a bucket and a jerry can, will complement 2,000 kits still stockpiled in Sindh and will be distributed by IOM and shelter cluster partner agencies in districts prioritized by the Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).

IOM has already distributed around 17,000 shelter kits to flood victims in Sindh.

“We have local NGO partners willing and able to distribute these kits to flood victims who desperately need our help. Distributing these contingency stocks without guaranteed donor funding to replace them is a high risk strategy, but it is a risk that we have to take,” said IOM Hyderabad Head of Office Arshad Rashid.

On September 18, IOM appealed to international donors for US$14.6 million to procure and distribute emergency shelter and non-food relief items to help over 550,000 vulnerable flood victims over the next three months.

The money will go towards providing shelter and non-food relief items, meeting the needs of displaced people in temporary settlements and relief camps, tracking displacement, building local capacity and coordinating the work of the Emergency Shelter Cluster.

Last week, IOM, working closely with a local non-government organisation, which provided a boat, delivered shelter and NFI kits to families stranded on mud banks in a sea of flood water in Badin district's Tando Bago sub-district.

The community, located about a mile from the town of Judho, had been cut off from the town for nearly a month. Their submerged mud houses had been completely destroyed and their only surviving possessions were wooden charpoy string beds and a few quilts and rice sacks that they had floated to safety and used to build makeshift shelters.

A village elder told IOM that the only aid they had received had been a delivery of rice by navy personnel in a zodiac inflatable.

Many people were sick from drinking dirty water or were suffering from malaria and all the crops in the area, including cotton, rice, tomatoes, onions and chili had been destroyed by the floods, he added.

“Unless the water recedes by next month, which seems very unlikely, they also won't be able to plant their wheat crop – which means they will lose another food staple,” said IOM Operations Officer Sher Sultan, who led the distribution.

Based on government and independent assessments, the UN believes that nearly 5.5 million people have been affected by the floods in Sindh. As many as 1.8 million have been displaced and are living in government relief camps, on roadsides or on higher ground near their submerged homes.]]>
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			<title>Floods 2011: Thousands of villages yet to be reached</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262893/floods-2011-thousands-of-villages-yet-to-be-reached</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262893/floods-2011-thousands-of-villages-yet-to-be-reached#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 11 04:33:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[maha.mussadaq]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=262893</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Relief workers say standing water inhibits relief work; call the situation ‘extremely tragic’.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[It’s been more than a month since the onset of monsoon and subsequent flooding, but relief organisations say thousands of villages remain inaccessible.


Helicopters cannot be used to reach inaccessible areas because there is no space to land, said the World Food Programme spokesperson Amjad Jamal while talking to The Express Tribune.

The agency has distributed seven boats to district management authorities to reach inaccessible communities, which could be in thousands, Jamal said.

“These are populated areas,” said Jamal. “People have to travel on boats to come to cities and fetch clean water.”

Inaccessibility of thousands of villages was corroborated by another United Nations official who recently returned from the flood-affected areas of Sindh.

While there are conflicting reports, the situation on the ground is “extremely tragic,” the official said.

Between seven and 10 feet high water is still standing in areas in Badin, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar, he added.

While the damage is as pervasive as last year, the response is not, bemoaned Aly Khan, spokesperson for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

More than 80,000 livestock have perished, which is alarming, Khan said, adding that up to 73% of all crops have been lost or damaged including cotton, rice, bananas, and vegetables.

Sugarcane, however, has managed to survive, he added.

About four-fifths of the affected population depends on agriculture for their livelihood and it is therefore imperative to provide them with funding to plant the Rabi crop.

FAO has made an appeal for $18.9 million but funds raised so far are zero, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2011. ]]>
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			<title>Kalat’s homeless brace for harsher winters</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262911/kalat%e2%80%99s-homeless-brace-for-harsher-winters</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262911/kalat%e2%80%99s-homeless-brace-for-harsher-winters#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 11 04:16:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Shezad Baloch]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=262911</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Residents given five kilogrammes of rice, two kg of pulses as ‘compensation’.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Temperatures are rapidly going down in Kalat and Abdul Majeed and his family spend their nights in a tent without enough food or warm clothes.


He is a resident of Dasht Mugalzai village in Kalat. “My relatives are from the same village and they too are homeless. I have nowhere to go,” he told The Express Tribune by telephone.

It is better for Maulvi Abdul Rehman. He has relatives outside the village and moved out with his family from the tent provided by the provincial government. “The temperatures were rapidly dropping and we could not continue living in a tent,” Rehman said.

Kalat is one of the coldest cities in Balochistan where temperatures drop to 10 to 17 degrees below the freezing point during winters.

Most of the people affected by the floods in the district moved to their relatives in neighbouring towns and villages. There are 30 to 40 families still living in tents provided by the government and some non-governmental organisations.

Around 582 houses were completely damaged, while 2,168 houses were partially damaged when flash floods triggered by torrential rains hit the district earlier this month.

Provincial Disaster Management Authority sent only six trucks of relief goods to Kalat. The affected families claim the government provided insufficient food and other commodities. “Every family was given five kilogrammes of rice, two of pulses and some medicines. They were not enough for even a week,” said Mohammad Anwar from the same villages.

International aid organisations, such as the Red Crescent Society, said that although six districts have been badly affected, the devastation is not of a scale that needs massive relief operations.

“We have sent our teams for assessment. People have been homeless but not displaced. The government can cope with the situation,” a senior official from an aid agency said.

Gulzar Ahmed, a Quetta-based journalist, complained that the PPP-led government had not played its due role in the aftermath of the floods.

“There’s an army of ministers who do not seem to be interested in humanitarian issues,” Ahmed said. “The people are left at the mercy of God.”

As many as 14 districts were affected by the flash floods. Kalat, Khuzdar, Loralai, Jaffarabad, Pishin and Zhob were declared calamity-hit districts.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Provincial Disaster Management Authority Director-General Tahir Munir said: “We need resources and funds for rehabilitation.” He said that when President Asif Ali Zardari launched an appeal for donations to the international community it was only for the people affected in Sindh.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani raised this issue with the president and prime minister and they are reported to have promised to launch an appeal for the people in Balochistan soon.

History repeated itself for people in Balochistan where residents feel they have again been deprived. Journalist Nusrat Anka said: “Over 20,000 people stricken by last year’s floods still live in tent villages in Nasirabad, where the infrastructure is yet to be rebuilt; victims of Cyclone Phet in Gwadar are still living without shelter; those affected by the 2006 flash floods in Turbat were never compensated.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Flood update : Sindh asks WB, ADB to rush assessments</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262653/flood-update-sindh-asks-wb-adb-to-rush-assessments</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262653/flood-update-sindh-asks-wb-adb-to-rush-assessments#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 11 20:48:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=262653</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[There were damages in all parts of the province but 13 districts were affected the most.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The Asian Development Bank and World Bank were asked by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to complete their survey and assessment of damages so that the process of rehabilitation could be speeded up.

In a meeting with the bank representatives, the chief minister said that the economy of the province had been hit in the worst possible way because of the damages and would lead to socio-economic problems like unemployment. Shah told the bank representatives that there had been damages in all parts of the province but 13 out of the 23 districts had been affected the most.

“More than 8.1 million people have not had shelter and over 400 people have died along with 100,000 animals,” he said. The World Bank and Asian Development Bank representative said that they were in the process of assessing the damages and the report would be completed soon.

The provincial secretaries and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) director general presented the chief minister with detailed reports of the damages and needs for assistance.

Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Minister for Rehabilitation Haji Muzaffar Ali Shujra, Asian Development Bank Country Director Werner Liepach, Raja Rehan Arshad of the World Bank and Sindh Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas also attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Double trouble: The displaced, from last year and this one, fear eviction</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262648/double-trouble-the-displaced-from-last-year-and-this-one-fear-eviction</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262648/double-trouble-the-displaced-from-last-year-and-this-one-fear-eviction#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 11 19:46:08 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=262648</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Men came to tell makeshift camp on Super Highway to dismantle.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The disaster just seems to keep coming - not just for the people displaced by last year’s floods but the fresh victims. Over 800 families, who took refuge in a camp on the Super Highway, are afraid they will be evicted in the next few days.

The trouble surfaced two days ago, says camp coordinator Farrukh Shah. At around 11 pm on Tuesday night, 70 men surrounded the camp and asked its occupants to leave. The group was led by a man called Shahab, who identified himself as a contractor for the Pakistan Army.

Shahab told them that the area they were occupying was meant for a cattle sale and that the contractor had paid Rs15 million for it. The residents pleaded with them as they had nowhere else to go.

The next morning, police mobiles from the nearby Sachal police station arrived to arrest Shah but he managed to avoid them, aided by the fact that there were a number of television channel teams filming the camp. An officer with the police station denied this, however.

The camp appears to be technically illegal. According to Shah, it was set up once camps closed down elsewhere in Sindh and relief work halted last year. “They just started arriving here in wagons and buses,” he recalled. “And this year’s flood victims started arriving on September 9.”

The freshly uprooted families number 335 and at least 200 of them are Hindu. They came to Karachi after being ‘mistreated’, as Shah put it. There have been numerous reports that Hindu families, particularly from the Dalit caste, have not been left by the wayside when it came to rations and relief goods, something which prompted President Asif Ali Zardari to take notice.

Shah, who calls himself a social worker, said that last year’s flood survivors managed to get blue-collar jobs - such as working at the Sabzi mandi or at petrol pumps, and they are trying to get sewing machines for the women. “These people toiled on the lands and so they have no [other] skills,” he said. “On Tuesday, when we needed someone to drive a car, there wasn’t a single man who knew how to.”

These camp residents have been living in tents for the past year, but those who have just moved in do not have any form of housing. “We have 20 tents for them, which MNA Sherry Rehman sent through the Indus Foundation.”

A military spokesperson in Karachi referred inquiries to the Malir Cantonment Board’s Cantonment Executive Officer. However, calls to the board were unsuccessful as an official who answered the phone said that the executive officer and all high-ranking officers were unavailable since they were touring the area with a visiting director.

“If they want to put us in jail, they can arrange for rations and health and education services. We will willingly go,” Shah said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Agriculture losses: Flooded breadbasket spells economic misery</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262280/floods-2011-farming-losses-reach-2b-say-experts</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262280/floods-2011-farming-losses-reach-2b-say-experts#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 11 05:10:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=262280</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The amount of agriculture losses so far is estimated to be Rs163 billion, says the agriculture ministry.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Monsoon floods that sunk Pakistan's arable belt for a second year running have piled farming losses clocking up to nearly $2 billion on top of a humanitarian catastrophe facing up to eight million people in the south.

Crops of grain, cotton, sugarcane, fruit and vegetables have been submerged and experts say the disaster could worsen the country's already dismal growth and inflation prospects.

(Read: Urgent cause: FAO to raise $18.9m to save livestock)

"It could (also) increase inflation by two to three percent by the end of this calendar year - from 13 to a maximum of 16 percent," the official said.

Exports are likely to be hit as Pakistan struggles to provide enough food to feed its own population in the wake of the floods, said independent economist Rauf Nizamani.

"The floods will certainly affect the trade and may cause a loss of at least $3 billion to the Pakistani exchequer," Nizamani said, leaving export receipts at $25 billion for the fiscal year.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that nearly three quarters of southern Sindh province's crops have been damaged or destroyed by the waters, while two thirds of food stocks have also been hit.

Sindh's agriculture ministry said the financial cost of crop losses so far was estimated at 163 billion Pakistani rupees ($1.87 billion).

Cotton faces losses of $998 million, income from chilli crops will be down $427 million and both rice and sugarcane will lose an estimated $135 million, said Aghah Jan Akhtar, the ministry's secretary.

One year after the country experienced its worst-ever floods, affecting 21 million people, farmers were again viewing their fields with despair.

In Mirpurkhas, one of the most fertile and badly-flooded districts, the branches of the cotton plants were blackened with water damage, and the usually white buds were colourless and droopy.

Rice plants that usually bloom above watery paddy fields were completely submerged, while stalks of sugarcane were miserably short at five feet tall.

"This catastrophe struck before families affected by last year's flooding were able to even start recovering," said FAO Pakistan representative Kevin Gallagher.

"The floods and rain deepen the risk of losing more vital livestock assets and for some, missing another opportunity to plant wheat and other essential crops."

"Besides that, we have lost $180 million through the destruction of tomato, onion, banana and other vegetable crops," he said.

Agriculture makes up 23 percent of Pakistan's GDP and a senior finance ministry official, who did not want to be named, estimated that the country's overall growth rate could fall from 4.5 to three percent on current trends.

Pakistan's largest agricultural trading customers are the United States, which takes more than one fifth of cotton, textiles and rice exports, and China, which takes 15 percent.

(Sindh floods: UN launches international appeal)

Badar Khwaja, a farmer in Tando Bago town in Badin district, forlornly pointed at his flooded paddy fields. He had planned to harvest them just one day after the heavy rains began to fall in August.

"The rains have destroyed farmers and peasants alike," said Khwaja.

In nearby Tando Allahyar, known for its quality vegetable production, only 2.5 percent of its usual haul is being trucked to market in Karachi, said local grower Qamar Zaman.

"The situation is too critical. We normally feed everyone, but now are ourselves hungry finding no one to feed us," he said.

Kunri town in Mirpurkhas will lose the distinction of being one of the prominent chilli production areas in Asia as 100,000 acres of the red chilli crops have been submerged, said provincial agriculture minister Ali Nawaz Shah.

"It is yet another blow to our economy," he said.

In a bitter irony for the farmers, their August harvest due to take place before the floods arrived had been delayed due to water shortage.

A lack of irrigation on Sindh's flatlands had already reduced chilli output from one million tonnes 10 years ago to half that in recent years.

"Earlier we suffered because there was no water, but now a deluge has destroyed us," said grower Ghulam Akbar Dars.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th,  2011.]]>
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			<title>Sluggish donor response another disaster in making: Oxfam</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262089/sluggish-donor-response-another-disaster-in-making-oxfam</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262089/sluggish-donor-response-another-disaster-in-making-oxfam#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 11 04:35:31 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=262089</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Approximately 97% of the UN’s $357 million appeal remains unfunded.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[International humanitarian aid agency Oxfam on Tuesday expressed alarm over the sluggish donor response to this year’s floods in Pakistan, with only $1.30 committed per affected person by international donors in the first 10 days of the UN appeal. In the same period during last year’s floods, $3.20 were committed per person.

According to a press release, Oxfam called on the government of Pakistan, as well as the international donor community to “dig deep into their resources and rapidly increase their funding to prevent the disaster from deteriorating further”.

According to latest figures, more than 8.8 million people in Sindh and 14,000 people in Balochistan have been affected by the 2011 monsoon rains. The human impact of this disaster in terms of the number of people affected is more than the combined impact of the Haiti earthquake and the Pakistan earthquake of 2005, the press release said. Reported losses are being estimated at $215million, which is likely to increase as some areas are inaccessible, it added.

“This is a cruel repeat of last year. Again funding is too little and far too slow. Donors must recognise the gravity of the situation. There is no time to waste. We must all act now,” said Neva Khan, Country Director of Oxfam in Pakistan.

According to Oxfam, approximately 97 per cent of the UN’s $357 million appeal remains unfunded. So far, only $11.5 million have been committed by donors.

“This pales in comparison with the amounts committed to other crises. Within the first 10 days of the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, which left some 3.5 million people homeless, the international community had committed $247 million and pledged $45 million. This works out to $70 committed per person, during that time period,” stated Oxfam.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th,  2011.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Watan Cards: Staff asking commission from poor villagers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262046/watan-cards-staff-asking-commission-from-poor-villagers</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/262046/watan-cards-staff-asking-commission-from-poor-villagers#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 11 04:18:13 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ppi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=262046</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Staff demands a commission of Rs500 to Rs1,000.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The government has set up eleven centres for the distribution of Watan Cards in five tehsils of Badin district.


Six centres began working on Monday but the staff demanded a commission of Rs500 to Rs1,000.

At least 270,000 people are believed to have been affected by flash floods in Badin district alone.

Social activists Fayaz Abro, Ram Kolhi, Suleman Soomro, Sawan Khaskheli and others demanded that the government help the poor get rid of the commission agents and start awareness programmes to guide the villagers and keep a check on the officials at the centres. The centres which began working earlier were inaugurated by National Assembly Speaker Dr Fehmida Mirza.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2011. ]]>
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			<title>Joint venture: WB to pay as Sindh strengthens drains before next monsoons</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/261978/joint-venture-wb-to-pay-as-sindh-strengthens-drains-before-next-monsoons</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/261978/joint-venture-wb-to-pay-as-sindh-strengthens-drains-before-next-monsoons#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Sep 11 22:11:16 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=261978</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rainwater begins receding as govt prepares legislation against land grabbing.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The World Bank is set to fund the Sindh government as it attempts to strengthen drains and canals and remove encroachments before the upcoming monsoon season.


“The World Bank has promised two billion rupees to strengthen the irrigation network, including canals, drains and regulators,” Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dhareejo told the media gathered at the Sindh Secretariat shortly after meeting with a World Bank delegation.

He said that they have already begun a project called the Sindh Water Sector Improvement Programme worth $175 million. The programme aims to improve the water and drainage sector of which Rs2 billion are to be spent on strengthening canals and drains.

“We will work on the Ghotki Canal, Nara Canal and the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) among others,” he said. The first order of business, however, is to conduct a study on the left side of the River Indus where 8.1 million people have been rendered homeless.

“An American company, Louis Berger, will conduct a study on how to strengthen these canals and drains.”

The LBOD’s total capacity is around 4,000 cusecs but 15,000 cusecs of water are being released into it. “We can expand the capacity of these canals based on the recommendations of the study,” the minister added.

He said that Word Bank financed the LBOD in the first place. The drain carries saline water from a number of districts on the river’s left bank and drains into the Arabian Sea in Badin district. Due to design faults, it fails to do its job after storms and cyclones and this causes great devastation. Dharejo refused to comment on why the government did not lodge a complaint with the World Bank or hold them responsible for the defective design. “It was not built to carry storm water, it has been built to dispose of saline water,” he explained.

The irrigation minister went on to say that the rains Sindh experienced this year are ‘historic’ and were the worst catastrophe faced by the province in its 150-year history. He estimated the losses suffered by his department at Rs6.5 billion. “The government is vigilant. No one drowned - most of the deaths were due to roof collapses and short circuits. A few of them died of hunger too.” Comparing the figure to the 1,500 who died in Khybyer Pakhtunkhwa last year, Dharejo felt that the Sindh government dealt with the situation well with the minimum loss of life.

Rainwater starts to recede

“This all has happened due to global warming. We have taken measures and I want to share with you the good news that the water collected in the Badin, Mirpurkhas, Benazirabad and Sanghar districts has begun to recede,” he said.

Dharejo was confident that all channels and canals will be restored in time for the upcoming Rabi season and people would be able to sow their crops. Moving on to encroachments, the minister said that the government has decided to remove all illegal settlements on canals and drains and are to make a legislation on it soon.

“We will suggest a strict punishment against those land grabbers who have occupied canals and drains in Sindh,” he said. The study of the canals will also indicate what the biggest obstacle is and how to remove it.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2011. ]]>
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