City witnesses influx of flood victims

700 victims have been housed in government schools in Sachal Goth

KARACHI:

As non-stop rains and floods continue to devastate villages and towns in interior Sindh, hapless families have started pouring into Karachi with nothing but their clothes on.

While millions of flood survivors are still shelter-less or marooned in their villages, hundreds of families have arrived in Karachi to take shelter in government schools on the suburbs of the city.

“With no shelter, no food, and no land to stand on, the flood affected people have no option but to seek refuge in cities till floodwater recedes,” said Fida Hussain, a social worker who has arranged shelter for survivors with the help of local community.

According to the Sindh government, at least 10 million people have been displaced by the catastrophic rains and floods in Sindh.

Sitting in a classroom with a distraught family, Fida Hussain and his colleague Muhammad Rameez said that more than 700 flood victims trekked their way to Karachi on Wednesday night while wading through waist-deep water for miles. They have been housed in three government schools in Sachal Goth.

The victims belong to more than 200 families and include a large number of women and children, from Naushero Feroze, Jacobabad, Shahdadpur and Shikarpur. They reached Karachi in the hope of finding food and shelter.

“They are devastated after losing everything they had, their houses, belongings, savings, and cattle,” Hussain said. “Most of them are emotionally broken and overwhelmed by grief as they have to leave their loved ones behind in uncertain situations,” he said.

On Thursday, the Deputy Commissioner of East District visited the Sachal Goth schools where the flood victims are housed to review the arrangements there.

The government has also sent two doctors to make assessment for setting up a medical camp. They said that a team of 25 doctors would be formed to provide medical facilities to the flood victims in morning and evening hours.

However, the victims said that only two doctors have been sent who do not even have medicines. They lamented that they have been wearing dirty clothes for the past several days which is causing skin diseases among their children.

“Everything is under water. We did not find enough dry land even to bury our dead,” one survivor told The Express Tribune while choking on tears. “Some bereaved families have brought the bodies of their loved ones to Karachi for burial,” he said, adding that thousands of people are waiting under the open sky for government help.

These victims cannot find enough food for two meals a day. They are confined to the schools as they do not have any money to go out and buy food. “All political parties are talking about the devastation caused by the floods, but no one is stepping forward to help the victims,” another survivor said.

The survivors believe the horrific memories of this catastrophe would haunt them for the rest of their lives, while the future of their children is also at stake. “Our houses have been washed away in front of our eyes. If we had not come to Karachi, the floodwater would have swept us away too,” he said.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2022.