“Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.” This line from ST Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' came to mind when a minor girl in the midst of surging floodwaters was seen pleading with a crowd for drinking water. "I only need drinking water," said the barefoot girl with messy hair when The Express Tribune team, on a survey of flood-hit areas, asked if she needed help.
She is not alone. Drinking water is what everyone needs the most in Khairpur Nathan Shah as well as Dadu and Jamshoro districts where the cataclysmic floods have contaminated all drinkable water sources.
"We have to travel by boat to Sehwan city to purchase drinking water," Raza Memon, a resident of Bobak town told The Express Tribune during a survey of the floodhit area. "It takes us two to three hours to get water and return home," he added.
Memon further said that people have to pay Rs500 to 600 for a boat-ride to fetch a 10-liter water can. "Those who can't afford are compelled to boil floodwater for drinking purpose," Memon said, adding that 5,000 to 6,000 families have migrated from Manchhar.
Shortage of clean water has led to a massive outbreak of water-borne diseases, especially diarrhea, gastroenteritis, and cholera, in the flood-hit areas. Stagnant water has also become breeding grounds for mosquitos. According to the latest figures released by the Sindh Health Department, more than 137,000 cases of diarrhea, over 90,000 of dysentery and 4,000 of malaria have been reported in the province in the month of September alone.
"Many cases of waterborne diseases go unreported as the media has no access to the remote areas ravaged by the floods," said Dr Qaisar Sajjad, Secretary General of Pakistan Medical Association, (PMA). "Diarrhea becomes a deadly disease, if not treated properly and on time, he told The Express Tribune.
"Annually, it claims the lives of around 350,000 children in Pakistan," he said suggesting that the government and NGOs purchase water purification machines for the flood-affected areas.
He said that these machines are also inexpensive. "A large number of people are marooned in their villages where they have setup shelter on roadsides and on the banks of canals," Sajjad said. "It may not be possible to provide bottled water to everyone; therefore, water purifying machines are the best option," he added.
During visits to Dadu, Kamber Shahdakot, Badin, Sanghar, Jamshoro and other flood-hit areas, affected communities had one common demand: drinking water. "We were landlords and used to serve food and water to everyone. The flood has rendered us homeless and now no one gives us water to drink," Basra Khatoon, who is sheltering in a relief camp in Dadu, told The Express Tribune.
"It has been three weeks since we came here. Government officials only provide cooked rice twice a day," she said, adding that drinking water has become a rare commodity. "Water of almost all hand pumps near our camp is contaminated. We are forced to fetch bottled water, which is too expensive," Khatoon said.
Among the camp dwellers was a couple with a toddler. "He has been having watery diarrhea for the last four days," said Ameen Khoso while nestling his two-yearold in his arms. No doctor or paramedic has visited our camp.
We also took him to a government hospital in Dadu, but the few medical staff available there did not check him properly," claimed Khoso. "We are not demanding milk, butter, or chicken. We are only asking for water, food and tents, so that we can live with our families until the floodwater recedes," he said.
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