‘Good Samaritans’ from Birmingham offer help

When he receives a letter from a church in Birmingham, offering money for relief work, Dr Qureshi is touched.

KARACHI: When he received a letter from a church in Birmingham, offering money for relief work in Pakistan, Dr Viquar Qureshi was touched.

“The church had collected money for the flood survivors in Pakistan and was wondering if we would accept the aid,” said Qureshi, who works as an orthopedic and trauma surgeon in Birmingham.

He came to Karachi, carrying funds collected by the people in Birmingham who wanted to do their bit for the flood survivors. The aid, he informed The Express Tribune, will be used specifically to set up water purification plants across the flood affected areas.

During a visit to the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Monday, Qureshi said that people from all walks of life had contributed towards funds for relief work in Pakistan.

“The mosque near my house also collected funds for two purification plants,” he said, referring to the Dudley Queens Cross Mosque.

Each plant, which costs between Rs0.6 million and Rs0.95 million, will be procured from a local supplier and will purify 2,000 litres of water per hour, enough for 5,000 people at a time. It has been designed to run on electricity, gas, petrol or diesel and comes with an attached generator.

So far, residents of Birmingham have collected funds for 14 plants, while more money is being collected. Meanwhile, one purification plant is already operating in Nowshera, while others will soon be set up in Sukkur, Khairpur and Larkana. Qureshi said that he is focusing on setting up these plants across lower Punjab and upper Sindh.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2010.