‘NGOs, philanthropists must help in relief efforts’

HYDERABAD: The Senate flood relief committee for Sindh has called upon all NGOs and philanthropists to extend their support to the government in its rescue, relief and rehabilitation work for the flood-affected people of the country.

Sindh has suffered tremendous losses in the floods that have left millions of people homeless across the country, said committee chairman senator Dr Jeevan Khato Mal while talking to the media at Circuit House on Tuesday. He was accompanied by other members of the committee, including senators Gul Muhammad Lot and Moula Bux Chandio.

Each senator has donated 45 days’ worth of his salary for the flood survivors, said Mal, who added that the senators have also set up a provincial level flood relief committee to monitor the relief work.

The donations by the senators have been deposited with the Utility Stores Corporation, which is releasing ration bags to the administration for distribution among the flood survivors.

Once the rescue and relief work has been completed, the government will start the process of rehabilitation of homeless people, said Mal. It is a very difficult task and cannot be accomplished without the support of international organisations, he added.

Around six million people have been affected in the floods across the province, according to a rough estimate by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) in Sindh.

It is premature to submit the details of the losses as the floods have yet to pass through the province, said Lot, who added that a natural disaster of this magnitude had last hit the region five centuries ago.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani have already asked the provincial governments to assess the losses and submit reports to the federal government, which has decided to grant Rs20,000 to each family that has been affected in the floods. The compensations will be distributed before Eid, said Lot.

The president and the prime minister have also taken “serious notice” of the negligence of the provincial irrigation departments, which have done nothing to strengthen the protective embankments for the last 15 years, said Chandio.

Members of the committee later visited the relief camps in Qasimabad, where ration bags for 15 days were distributed among the flood survivors.

The committee also gave medicine worth Rs3 million to the Hyderabad health executive district officer Dr Bakhsh Ali Pitafi.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2010.