Pakistan navy comes to rescue

Navy boats sped across miles of flood waters as the military took a lead role in rescuing survivors.

Navy boats sped across miles of flood waters on Sunday as the military took a lead role in rescuing survivors from a devastating disaster that has so far killed 1,600 people and left two million homeless.

Rubber and wooden navy boats set out from areas in Sindh province, where flood waters burst from the Indus River across vast distances, to help Pakistanis who have watched safe ground shrink by the hour and waters swallow up their livestock.

“We have been doing this for several days,” said navy officer Akhter Mahmood after his boat travelled through about 20 km of flood water.

However, scores of flood-stricken people staged a demonstration in Tehsil Muncipal Administration (TMA) office Jampur in Rajanpur against the unavailability of food and drinking water on Sunday.

A large number of people gathered at the TMA office and chanted slogans against district authorities’ failure to provide security, food and drinking water to them.

Angry protesters hurled stones at district officials and the police. Locals have asked the government to enhance patrolling of security officials in the city.

When contacted, DIG Ahmed Mubarak said law enforcing agencies were already patrolling the city and also performing relief activities.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 9^th, 2010.