Basti Shado Khan left in the lurch in flood aftermath

Authorities fail to compensate thousands of flood-hit families leaving them penniless at the onset of winter.

LAYYAH: Despite government’s tall claims, the authorities in Punjab have failed to compensate thousands of flood-hit families in a less developed southern district, leaving them penniless at the onset of winter.

As many as 70,000 flood survivor families and their cattle are spending nights without any shelter in remote Basti Shado Khan union council in district Layyah since the devastating July-August floods washed away their dwellings and crops, revealed a survey conducted by The Express Tribune.

Taking advantage of the situation, some banned outfits have entered the scene to assist these poor farmers.

“We were given no financial assistance by the government or non-governmental organisations, where else could we have gone after losing everything?” said Haji Ghulam Sarwar, who is the Imam of a mosque in Moza Nowshera Nashib of the area.

“Islami bhais (members of religious fraternity) are helping us now,” he added.

The union council, encircled by Indus River, is located about 70 kilometres away from Layyah city at the confluence of districts Bakhar, Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan. It is also close to Dera Ismail Khan.

“Their only fault is that they voted in favour of former district nazim Ghulam Haider Thind,” alleged alleged former union council nazim Sajid Ali Shah Bokhari. Dr Rehman, who has been running a private clinic in Basti Ilyani for 10 years, said that organisations such as Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Pakistan, Ahle Hadith, Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan and local philanthropists have been providing funds to support poor growers.

He said that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was also providing seeds of wheat and urea for cultivating crops in Moza Bhand and Faiz Muhammad Bhand. He added that no Watan card has been issued to anyone in the village.

Rehman alleged that the local Nadra office issued around 2,000 Watan cards to people living in Chak Nos 117-A, 117-B 118, 120 and 122-B falling under the Thal Development Authority (TDA) which remained unaffected by floods.

The district In-charge of Nadra, Haseeb Khan, also confirmed that cards had been issued to wrong people because of a survey team's negligence which never visited Basti Shado union council.

Muhammad Manzoor, a patwari of chak 117-B TDA, claimed that a local landlord had threatened the survey team not to visit this union council, but he did not specify.

A senior district administration official told The Express Tribune that some 28,000 complaints regarding Watan cards had been sent from across the district to Nadra headquarters in Islamabad last month but only 7 names of flood survivors from the union council were picked up.

“Over 40 per cent of 100,000 Watan cards have been issued to people who live in areas falling under the TDA, which remained untouched by floods since the creation of Pakistan,” he said.

Former MNA and District Nazim Layyah Ghulam Haider Thind denied allegations levelled against him and said he did not threaten anyone, adding that it did not visit the area on its own.

Layyah DCO Javid Iqbal was of the view that the district administration tried its best to tackle problems arising after floods.

However, he admitted that a few rural areas could not be provided with relief because of lack of logistical facilities after River Indus inundated the area from three directions.

Local people complained that their MNA Saqlain Bokhari, who contested election on PML-N ticket, never visited the area since he was elected.

However, Bokhari told The Express Tribune that he had recently visited the area and assured flood victims of his full support, adding that he had personally donated a cheque of Rs1 million.

Additional Information collected through detailed survey

Fund raising campaign by banned outfits

Some banned outfits have set up their offices and are distributing wheat seeds and urea for cultivating winter crops like wheat, sugar cane and other local vegetables in the area. Muhammad Umar of Lashkar-i-Janghvi provided seeds and urea for some 170 acres land.

Poor condition of schools

The condition of some 12 primary, four middle and two high schools is deplorable and students cannot even dare to enter classrooms because their walls appear as if they are about to crumble. “Some 15,000 students are carrying on their studies on mats without any shelter since the school reopened,” said a teacher in Government Primary School, Pakka Mirani Amir Khan Sakhani.

Break-out of fatal diseases

In the wake of floods, as many as 15 people have lost their lives to various diseases like dengue fever in the area. Hatto Mai, a mother of five, lost her life after contracting cholera. “The district government did nothing for us,” said Mai’s husband Asif Khan

Fear of terrorism through Punjabi Taliban

Most landlords in Sakhani, Ilyani, Khar, Syed, Qureshi, Lashari, Dreshak, Khosas, Kulachi, Shahani, Gishkoris and Mirani are worried because of the area's proximity to Dera Ismail Khan and the tribal belt. They fear that union council Basti Shado Khan and adjacent areas can be easily converted into a haven for Punjabi Taliban.

“Poverty and the government’s apathy is the prime reason for the spread of extremism in the area,” politician Hasnain Khan Jiskani told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2010.