DHA employees contribute to flood funds

KARACHI: Employees of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) have decided to contribute at least one day’s income towards the floods relief fund, DHA administrator Khalid Tirmizi announced at a conference on Thursday.

Cantonment board employees will contribute a day’s salary, which officers ranking between grade one and 16 will contribute two days’ salaries. Officers of grade 17 and above will donate three days’ salaries for the cause, Tirmizi said, adding that a flood emergency centre will also be established in the DHA central office.

DHA will also collect donations from people who wish to contribute to the cause, said Tirmizi.

Inspection of med camps

Sindh health secretary Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi will inspect 164 medical camps and 96 mobile medical teams that were established by the Sindh health department in Sukkur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Jamshoro and other districts threatened by the flash floods on the directives of Sindh health minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed.

Doctors and paramedical staff must be available round the clock at emergency wards in hospitals as well as in healthcare centres and medical camps to ensure that patients are not faced with any difficulties in getting treated, said Ahmed.

“There must not be any shortage of medicines at hospitals, otherwise strict action will be taken against the relevant incharge,” he warned.

Sindh prepared for floods: Fahmida Mirza

Security measures are being taken to minimise damage in Sindh, said National Assembly speaker Dr Fahmida Mirza during a visit to the Kotri Barrage.

According to the irrigation department, the Kotri Barrage has been compromised in 26 areas, including the Malakatyar bund in the Sajawal area which has been declared “extremely sensitive”, said Mirza, who added that the district administration has initiated repair work in the affected areas.

The irrigation department claims that Sindh will not suffer big losses, said Mirza. She added that the authorities are taking measures to transport residents of Latifabad and Qasimabad to safe locations.

Provincial interior minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, ministers Zahid Bhargari, Ali Nawaz Shah and other officials from the irrigation department were also present at the occasion.

Addressing flood-related complaints

The health department’s central control room has started work in the Sindh secretariat Block 94 where health officials have been directed to address flood-related complaints round the clock.

WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP/PPI

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2010.