Valuable crops of rice, cotton, vegetables destroyed, says Memon

Sindh Minister for Information, Sharjeel Inam Memon has said that crops spread on 4,420,484 acres have been destroyed by recent rains and floods in the province. The valuable crops of cotton, rice, vegetables have been destroyed 100%, which will cause a huge loss in exports and there is a fear of food shortage in the future.

He said that 100% of the date crop has been affected. If the water situation remains same for the next one month, mango and orchards will also be affected. A mango tree takes eight years to give fruit.

At a press conference, he said that in the current situation the nation needs unity. The minister has emphasised on mutual communication between the philanthropists, NGOs and the government of Sindh and has appealed that the philanthropists and non-governmental organisations should stay in touch with PDMA to deliver aid to every affected person so that the aid can reach people in remote areas.

Sharjeel said that so far 559 people have lost their lives and 21,891 are injured. Also, 1,465,941 houses have been affected by the floods, of which 556,120 have been completely destroyed, while the rest have been partially damaged. He further said that 9,788,969 people of 1,675,817 families have been affected, 6,278,007 are homeless.

In addition, 6,278,007 people have been shifted to relief camps, where they are being provided standard cooked meals and health facilities.

Memon said that people living in villages have lost 103,066 cattle. He said that the Sindh government has also started vaccination to protect cattle from diseases. The provincial information minister said that the first priority of the Sindh government is to save the lives of the people in the affected areas and in the second phase, complete rehabilitation of the victims will be started.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2022.