Still looking for relief

Different areas in Punjab have been severely affected by the floods. Hundreds of thousands of homeless people are now being shifted to relief camps across the province.

In Faisalabad, heavy water flow caused a canal to break and a nearby village was inundated as over 20 houses collapsed in the area. Another canal passing through Warispura also collapsed and a 20 feet wide breach appeared on Friday. The breach has caused hundreds of houses in Nazir Colony and Ahmed Nagar to drown as several other structures have collapsed. The affected people have been forced to seek shelter outside their houses.

According to residents in the area, the Water and Sanitation Authority (Wasa) administration was informed of the incident but no officials were present. Eight hours later, the crack was filled on the orders of the chief minister.

Mianwali:

District coordination officer (DCO) Tariq Mehmood has said that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif recently issued orders to the district administration to complete a survey within 45 days to asses the destruction caused by the floods. He said the CM had also ordered that aid be provided to the flood victims. The DCO said that due to floods 153 villages and more than 500,000 people had been affected in Mianwali and funds were required to control the situation. “Government installations worth billions of rupees have also been damaged,” he said, adding that the CM had sought Rs25 billion from the prime minister in this regard.

Khanpur:

The Zakat and Ushr department has started enlisting damage claims from people affected by floods in the district. Bahawalpur range deputy administrator Zakat Muhammad Aslam Ramay issued directives for a team to be set up under the supervision of Rahim Yar Khan auditor Syed Kashif Raza to monitor collections in Government High School Chachran Sharif. Raza on Friday said the flood victims belonging to Chachran, Ahmad Kundan, Simkah, Mid Adal, Mahran, Baeet Mughul, Haiderabad, Faizabad, chak Ahmadyar, Bakhrani, Chandia, chak Faiz Ahmad, Gudpur and other adjoining areas should submit the details of their losses by August 19.

Mian Channu:

District coordination officer (DCO) Qazi Muhammad Ashfaq and district police officer (DPO) Muhammad Kamran visited the spur on River Chenab at Kabeerwala.  They also visited dykes at different locations in Fazal Shah, Zero point, Kund Sargana and Mauripur Jhundeer.  The DCO said that the water levels along the dykes had started receding.

Muzaffargarh:

Anticipating floods in the region, local authorities have closed down the Muzaffargarh-Mianwali road for all kinds of traffic. Officials said that the water had reached DC Bridge of Mussanday Wali. A large number of flood victims have been facing difficulties regarding rescue operations in the district. In Dera Ghazi Khan and Taunsa, people are still waiting for relief goods to come their way.

The road links of Dera Ghazi Khan with Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have been disconnected because the Indus Highway and Multan Road have been inundated.

A resident of Kot Addu, 70-year-old Amanullah said that the destruction caused by the flood has reminded him of the 1947 migration when they were forced to live in relief camps under the open skies. Though relief camps have been organised for the flood victims but they are without ‘relief’. “Our children sleep hungry waiting for food all night,” he said, adding that the government was continuously claiming to have provided relief to the flood stricken but in reality nothing was being done. “They seem to have forgotten us completely,” he said.

Rahim Yar Khan:

Due to floods in the district nearly 82km of roads have been affected. According to officials the Highway department has started a survey to calculate the damage to roads in all three tehsils of the district. Some portions of major roads in the district have been washed away and other roads have been damaged beyond repair after having remained underwater for several days. According to the initial survey 45km roads in areas along with River Indus have been affected, including Jamaldin Wali to Head Roti (5km); Kaloda Wah to Abad Pur (4km); Abad Pur to Sui Gas colony (4m); Ada Dera Musher Road (6.25km) and  several others.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2010.