Thatta, Badin ‘Phet-up’ of the cyclone

KARACHI: It’s not even here and the residents of Thatta, Badin and other coastal areas are already fed up with the alarm surrounding the cyclone as relief camps, where they have been relocated, do not have food, clean water or medicines.

The government set up several camps, including five in Thatta’s coastal towns of Baghan, Garhi, Boohara, Sakra and Sajanwari, after cyclone Phet developed in the Arabian Sea and threatened to cause destruction on the Pakistani coast.

Four relief camps have also been established in government school buildings in Keti Bandar, Ghora Bari, Kharo Chan and Gharo. Each camp has the capacity to accommodate almost 300 to 500 people.  Badin also has six relief camps, four of which are located in Ahmad Raju, Bagra Memon, Berani and Serani.

The main control room has been established in Gharo under the supervision of DDO Revenue Azhar Khaskheli. The Hyderabad Electric Supply Company has established a Rain Emergency Cell to ensure a supply to Thatta and Badin.

Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) conducted a survey in some of these camps and found that there are no facilities for food, medicines or clean water for the displaced people, who are already worried about the potential damage the cyclone may cause to their houses.

Around 3,500 people, including children and women, from three villages in Badin have been brought to Golarchi Camp. These families have been there since Wednesday but government officials have failed to provide food and water.

The authorities fear the loss of human life as several families have refused to leave their homes.

PFF activists said that they went to the island villages in 50 boats to help the community but they refused to leave their abodes and belongings. The communities have a sense of loyalty that makes them stay there in this difficult situation, they said.

After strong winds and scattered rains hit the coastal areas, the PFF lost contact with residents of eight island villages and they are worried about their safety.

The government has also failed to establish contact with them. The Pakistan Navy, on the other hand, sent speedboats to rescue the 330 families stuck in islands located around 40 kilometres from Kharo Chhan.

Pak Navy spokesperson Commander Salman Ali said that they have sent helicopters and aircraft over the sea to signal to fishermen to return to the coast. He added that the navy is prepared to help the Sindh and Balochistan government to counter any emergency.

A total of 170 fishing boats left the coast in the past few days and the authorities lost contact with them. Out of them, 40 have returned safely.

According to DCO Thatta Manzoor Ahmed Sheikh, more than 800 fishermen in 300 boats went at sea and 148 of them are still missing. He said that there are 2,500 families living in the 200-kilometre-long desert between Karachi and Badin and the government has started making preparations to relocate them to safer places.

One of the protective walls built at Keti Bander in Thatta has developed a three-foot deep crack, Sheikh said, adding that they have started cementing it. But he was afraid that if the port overflows there will be casualties as people refused to move despite evacuation announcements all night.

DCO Badin Agha Asif informed Express News that around 600 people have been evacuated from Zero Point, Ahmed Raju and other areas and transferred to the four camps in Golarchi.

PFF spokesperson Sami Memon said that the cyclone is more likely to cause destruction to the low-lying areas along the Karachi coast. Several families living at Hawke’s Bay will be affected from the high tides. The makeshift huts of the fishermen along the 350-kilometre-long Sindh coast are likely to be damaged by the strong winds expected to hit these areas.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2010.