Thousands of flood victims are erecting tents in place of their collapsed houses and are rebuilding from scratch.
Inside Manchan Abad, residents of the Ghulam Sarwar Malhara village are being provided rations and other essentials by the Bahawalpur Muttahida Mahaz. Village locals said that the government should provide them aid and interest free loans to construct their houses. “We want to rebuild in time for Eid but we don’t have the money to build cement houses,” said villager Nadeem. Muttahida Mahaz Bahawalpur Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani recently visited the affected areas and said that children in the larger cities had started buying toys for these children for Eid. “School children in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad are all buying and donating toys for the children affected by the floods. They are leading an example of how adults need to share what the can for their brothers and sisters,” he said, adding that these toys would be distributed among the children before Eid.
Flood victims in southern Punjab are facing severe problems with regards to medical aid, as there are few doctors and a shortage of medicines to cope with the spreading disease among most of the victims. Most camps are facing a critical shortage of drinking water and there is no electricity.
These problems persist in medical camps in Layiah, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Taunsa, Mehmood Kot, Sanawaan, Rohelaan Wali and other areas.
The camps also lack toilet facilities and basic sanitation. The flood victims have complained that in spite of the government’s claims to compensate them with money to rebuild their homes no one has received a single rupee from the government. “The politicians are haggling over giving us more money to make themselves look good but we haven’t gotten anything,” said Taunsa resident Sahil.
Locals said that a survey was underway in all the districts and they had seen administrative officials making estimates of the damage.
“We don’t need facts and figures we need food and shelter to get us through the week and we don’t have that,” said Mukhtaran Bibi, a flood victim from Rajanpur. The flood victims have urged the government to meet their demands and provide them with the first installment of aid to enable them to start rebuilding their homes.
Donors on the ground:
A delegation of overseas Pakistanis donors reached Multan on Sunday. With the help of the Express Helpline relief goods will be distributed among 12,000 families in the first phase of aid operations in the district. The delegation is being led by Sohail Anwer Khan.
Talking to The Express Tribune Khan said that they would distribute 20-day rations among 12,000 families with the assistance of the Express Helpline. In the second phase medicine, tents and other essentials will be distributed. Khan said that overseas Pakistanis would stand shoulder to shoulder with their people in their hour of need.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2010.
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