Flood-hit: Talmiri villagers living a life in the wild

Outbreak of deadly epidemics feared, medicines missing.

MULTAN:

“The water is not fit for use,” says Azra Mochani, a seven-year-old resident of Talmiri village. She points to a pool of stagnant water and wrinkles her nose.

“My mother says this water is not fit for swimming either,” she says.

Bashir Mochani, her grandfather, sits on a charpoyi a few feet away, smoking a hookah that he saved as his family was evacuating when the floods came two weeks ago.

“They (the government) warned us to be wary of diseases in flooded areas,” he says. Mochani says their village, as well as Muradabad, Sarwar Wali, Head Muhammadwala, Lunger Saraye, Alipur Moradabad, Thatha Sialen, Rangpur, Khudai Bangla, Mauza Doaaba, Khanpur Bagga Sher, Qaziwala, Jaam Wala and Basera drowned in the floods.

“It has been two weeks. No government official has visited,” he says.

He says no teams of Health Department or the town municipal authority has fumigated the areas.

“How can we protect ourselves from dengue fever and malaria when we are living right next to stagnant water?” he says.

Nearly 86,000 families of 143 villages, including Talmiri, have been displaced in the recent floods. Nearly 53,000 families from 11 union councils of Multan have been badly affected.

Bashir says many villagers fear an outbreak of a deadly epidemic.

“Already, many children are suffering from diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, pink-eye, skin allergies and fever,” he adds.

“The government should use sucker machines and Peter engines to drain water as soon as possible,” he says.

Rizwan Ghafoor, another villager, says no vaccines are available at the camp set up near Talmiri.

“The army should set up field hospitals to help people who are getting sicker everyday,” he says.

Health EDO Dr Iftikhar Qureshi rubbishes claims that vaccines and medicines were not available. “There are 25 flood relief camps in 21 union councils. Here, first-aid is being provided round-the-clock,” he said.

He says a large number of patients of diarrhoea and gastroenteritis have been treated at relief camps.

Multan DCO Zahid Aslam Gondal says nearly 53,000 people affected by floods would get cheques in October.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2014.