If the government had not started immediate relief work then thousands of people would have died, said Shah at a press conference at Circuit House, Thatta.
More than 1.4 million people have been affected by the floods in Sindh so far and this figure could go up to 5.4 million in the coming days.
Relief operations are underway along with efforts to rehabilitate those people whose lives were destroyed by the floods, he said. For those people who did not want to move to Karachi, relief camps have been set up in Thatta on an emergency basis.
The CM said that the case of Kot Almo bund in Thatta is a repeat of what happened at Tori bund. When a breach occurred in the Kot Almo bund, the water pressure was so strong that the water gushing out of the gap looked like a surging river.
According to Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, the Sindh government had not issued a warning to evacuate Thatta city.
The chief minister had just finished the news conference and was on his way out of Circuit House when a young man interrupted him. My family is drowning while the politicians are busy holding meetings, he said angrily.
The home minister tried in vain to move the boy from their path, after which he told the irrigation department to ensure that the young man and his family were moved to a safer area.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2010.
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