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Flood-hit people flay govt for failing to provide relief

There is total chaos in our village as aid and relief has not been the delivered to deserving people.

Shabbir Mir July 20, 2011 1 min read

GILGIT:

The villagers of Yaseen valley, the worst affected valley of Ghizer District, demanded an inquiry into the discriminatory distribution of Watan Cards and relief goods saying that they had been leading a miserable life since the floods wrecked havoc in their villages.

“There is total chaos in our village as aid and relief has not been the delivered to deserving people. The government has not taken any steps to redress problems of those affected,” said Mohammad Madad Shah, president of Yaseen Coordination committee (YCC) while talking to journalists here in the Gilgit Press Club on Monday.

More than a dozen villagers flanked him at the press conference, which they said was the only way to convey their voice to the rulers.

“We have no other way of conveying our grievances to the rulers as nobody is willing to listen to our concerns,” said Madad Shah, adding that the last year’s floods had devastated more than six villages of Yaseen valley, affecting nearly 15,000 people.

He said that local politicians including PPP general secretary Ghulam Mohammad and Ayub Shah were serving their own purpose as they supported only those people who were either their kith and kin or had voted them in the elections. The disgruntled villagers said that the local administration of the valley had unfairly distributed relief goods, claiming that the list prepared for the losses of affected was falsified. They demanded an inquiry into the questionable distribution of relief goods and Watan cards.

The president of the coordination committee said the 17 water channels destroyed by the floods have still not been repaired and that 400 families are without shelter and have to stay with relatives elsewhere.

“The government distributed a total of 55 Watan cards among the people but the distribution is not fair as the beneficiaries are not those affected,” said Shah, They asked the government to help the victims in rehabilitation.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2011.