Sindh not dry enough to set up tent cities

HYDERABAD:

Relief work is more challenging in Sindh this year as aid agencies have not been able to find enough dry land to make tent cities. 

While many districts are still inundated, other places are too wet to pitch tents. Also, most people affected by the floods are living in areas which are not accessible by road.

(Read: Floods 2011 - Thousands of villages yet to be reached)

“Unlike the floods which devastated the whole country last year, the situation this year is more challenging in Sindh,” says Qaisar Khan Afridi, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

“Instead of setting up tent cities where thousands of people can be accommodated, we are distributing tents in affected villages,” Afridi said. “We will still do our best to reach out to the scattered population,” he added. The agency has sought $33.2 million from donors to scale up its operations. Currently, the UNHCR is working in Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts, and will soon start working in Umerkot and Thar.

Separately in Sanghar, a delegation of UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs requested the district administration to identify dry locations for tent cities. Sanghar is the worst affected district,” said Fawad Hussain from the UNOCHA team.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2011.