Flood victims object to ‘inmate’ treatment

Flood victims asked to wear 'details' on slate hung around their necks as each person is photographed and questioned.

DERA GHAZI KHAN: The survey to assess the damage caused by the floods has gotten off to a rocky start as locals protested in DG Khan.

The flood victims accused the administration of treating them like prison inmates. According to flood victims, they were asked to wear their ‘details’ i.e. their name, address and other particulars on a slate that was hung around their necks as each person was photographed and questioned. “The administration made us stand in the sun for hours and when our turns came they only asked us our names and where we used to live then they made us wear boards around our necks and put us in groups according to age,” said flood victim Mansoor.

Later the flood victims were grouped according to their serial numbers before they were enlisted. “It took days for the survey and we had to wait for over 9-10 hours,” said Kashif, a flood victim, who added that his family was grouped separately and his wife and father were all registered hours after he was.

In Dera Ghazi Khan, 280 villages were surveyed and the documentation of 135 villages has now been completed. The report states that over 3,266 houses have collapsed in the affected villages. DG Khan district coordination officer (DCO) has ordered survey teams to complete the survey by September 30. He said that people of the area where the survey has been completed will be given Watan cards and will be receiving payment from September 27. “Degree college DG Khan and degree college Taunsa Sharif have been selected as the venues for the distribution of Watan cards to the flood victims,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2010.