Swelling of rivers: Sindh prepared for any emergency, officials tell Bilawal

PPP chairperson urges elected representatives to work towards easing suffering of people

KARACHI:

Government officials and elected representatives informed Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership on Friday that there is no chance of floods in Sindh and that all arrangements have been made to meet any emergency situation.

During a meeting that was chaired by the PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto, the commissioners of Sukkur and Larkana division, officials of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and elected representatives briefed the PPP chief over video link from their respective districts.

The briefing, held at Bilawal House, was also attended by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Senator Sherry Rehman as well as a number of ministers from Sindh’s cabinet.

During the meeting, the officials from Sukkur division informed the members that 160,000 people live in katcha area of Khairpur district, 125,000 in Sukkur and 45,000 in Ghotki district, from where 70 per cent people have been evacuated to safer places.

Briefing the meeting, Sindh Health Minister Jam Mahtab said the government has established medical camps near the sensitive points and set up tent cities from Kashmore to Thatta district.

“The medical staff, including doctors and paramedics, are available in the camps where antidotes of -snake venom are also available,” he said, adding that ambulance services have also been started in the areas to shift the people from camps to cities and towns in case of emergency.

The PPP chairperson stressed that the elected representatives, especially those belonging to the flood-prone areas, should actively work in order to mitigate the suffering of the people in case of any flood threat.

Later talking to The Express Tribune, Sukkur Commissioner Mohammad Abbas Baloch said the local authorities have made the arrangements keeping in mind the 2010 floods when 1.3 million cusec of water had passed through Guddu and Sukkur barrages.

“According to predictions, a maximum of 0.6 million cusec water will reach Guddu on Wednesday that will pass without any loss,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2015.