Drought and deaths: High court seeks reports on Thar tragedy

The bench heard three identical petitions, including one filed by the SHC Bar Association.

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed provincial authorities to submit reports regarding the provision of health and food facilities in Tharparkar, where the drought has claimed more than 200 lives since last December.

Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar, who headed the division bench, also instructed them to explain their future strategies to cope with such situations in the region, which is one of the world’s largest deserts.

The bench was hearing three identical petitions, filed by the SHC Bar Association, the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education Research and a civil rights campaigner, Rana Faizul Hasan, who sought directions for the government to take preventive steps and provide food, health facilities to avert the deaths.

While disposing of these petitions on May 23, the high court had ordered the government to ensure the availability of vaccinations at each basic health unit in the province to immunise children against measles and Rubella.

The health secretary was ordered to launch an effective awareness campaign, informing people of the adverse effects of measles, Rubella and other diseases along with their causes and prevention methods.

During earlier hearings, the court had also ordered food department officials to ensure provision of ration to each member of the families affected by the drought. The revenue officials were instructed to ensure smooth supply of the ration.

On Thursday, the two-judges asked the provincial law officer to submit reports from the health, food and revenue authorities explaining the imlplementation of the court’s directives to mitigate the situation and devise future strategies to cope with the same efficiently.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2014.