Flood crisis: Balochistan's silent suffering

Flood victims in the districts of Jhal Magsi, Jaffarabad, Sibi and Bolan are suffering from various epidemics.

QUETTA: Over 60,000 flood survivors in five districts of Balochistan are suffering from epidemics particularly gastroenteritis and malaria.

Sources in the Health Department told APP on Sunday that over 60,000 flood-stricken people out of a total of 1.1 million in the districts of Jhal Magsi, Jaffarabad, Nasirabad, Sibi and Bolan had suffered from epidemics after consumption of contaminated floodwater.

They said that 30,000 patients of diarrhea, 8539 of malaria, 8761 of skin diseases, 3764 of asthma and sigh related diseases, and 2979 of eye diseases had been examined at 30 medical camps.

They added that over 12,853 children suffering from diarrhea and gastroenteritis had been vaccinated in the five districts so far.

Meanwhile, UN agencies working in the affected areas have warned that due to the growth of mosquitoes in standing floodwaters, malaria might breakout at a large scale in Balochistan besides affecting its neighboring provinces.

They feared that thousands of flood victims would suffer if precautionary measures to check malaria were not launched on war footing basis. They also emphasized the need to drain out standing floodwaters from Dera Allahyar, Suhbatpur, Gandakha, UstaMuhammad, Rojhan Jamali, Tambo and Jhal Magsi immediately in order to put a halt to growth of mosquitoes.

APP district correspondents have reported that epidemics had also broke out in Khuzdar, Mastung, Wadh, Karkh Zehri, Kharan and Awaran where flood victims had taken refuge. In Sibi, Dera Murad Jamali, Jhal Magsi, Kachhi Bolan and Quetta hundreds of flood-hit people infected with gastroenteritis, skin diseases and snake-bite were being brought to hospitals which were running short of doctors as well as medicines.

Hundreds of carcasses of animals were floating in the standing floodwaters and the marooned people were forced to consume contaminated water, making themselves prey to deadly waterborne diseases.

Director General Agriculture Engineering Balochistan Mir Abdul Razzaque Baloch has said that the floods had badly damaged canal system and washed away standing crops on 700,000 acres of land in green belt of the province. He maintained that widespread devastation of the agriculture sector in Balochistan would result in crises of food shortage in the country. He added that presently, farmers in Balochistan had no cash to sow crops.

It is recalled that although standing floodwaters have started to descend in Dera Allahyar, Rojhan Jamali and Suhbatpur but still it was standing in Dera Allahyar city by five feet and downstream areas by 10 feet. So far, the administration has not decided to carry out more cuts on Jamali Bypass to drain out the water. Resultantly, neither road links between Dera Allahyar and Jacobabad could be restored nor railway service could be started.