Relief goods continue to be transported to Gwadar

QUETTA:

Transportation of relief goods to the affected areas of Balochistan continued on Monday.

Speaking exclusively to Express, PDMA Director General Hassan Baloch said that one C-130 plane and 15 trucks carrying relief goods have been sent to the cyclone-affected areas. He confirmed that the goods have already been distributed amongst the people.

So far, the Punjab government has sent 10 trucks of relief goods to the affected areas.

The Balochistan government has also released Rs75 million for the affected people and its provincial cabinet members have donated one month's salary for the cause.

Storm victims in Gwadar cry for help

Cyclone victims in Gwadar continued to protest on Sunday against shortage of relief goods, accusing the federal and provincial governments of inaction.

A large number of women staged a sit-in on the Fish Harbour Road, disrupting traffic for several hours.

People complained that they urgently needed tents and food and said that their women and children had been living out in the open without any shelter.

According to doctors, 10 more children suffering from gastroenteritis were brought to the District Headquarters Hospital in Gwadar.

The number of patients admitted to the hospital rose to 80 most of them children aged between two and 10 years. “pools of stagnant water in many parts of Gwadar, Pasni and Jiwani posing serious threats to outbreak of deceases in the entire coastal region,” a doctor told The Express Tribune, adding that the water “must be drained out as soon as possible”.

There are also reports of stomach diseases from Pasni and Jiwanri where dozens of children were suffering from gastro.

Water is being drained out by pumps from some areas in Gwadar, but there are still some areas with up to two feet of flood water. “There is no working sewerage system in the coastal region. The result is that the flood water is mixing with water supply lines, spreading diseases,” local residents told this correspondent.

Official said a survey of the affected area is being carried out, adding that it would be completed in “five days, enabling the government to assess the extent of devastation”.

Meanwhile, All Parties Political Front staged a demonstration in front of the Gwadar Press Club against shortage of relief goods. Leaders of the BNP, Jamaat-i-Islami and BNP-Awami condemned the the government for “leaving the storm victims on their own”, adding that the government “is making no effort to provide any relief”. The protestors later blocked the Gwadar Port Road.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2010.