Karachi: Three hundred people have lost their lives in Sindh province, which has also suffered losses of upto Rs 650 million, an amount almost equal to 3 billion dollars and an estimated population of 10 million have been affected due to incessant queues of heavy rain spells since last month.
This was stated by Surendar Valasai, Special Assistant to Sindh Chief Minister for Human Rights. “Damages are have been multiplying from the day one the first torrential bout and are continuing with no respite from the downpours, he added.
According to data collected from different sources, infrastructure losses worth Rs350 billion have been reported in which 2300 kilometers of roads were dilapidated while 45 bridges also suffered damages. Sixty per cent of the cotton crop sown on 1,480,000 acres have been wiped out. Ninety per cent of chilies cultivated on 126,000 acres stands destroyed. Eighty per cent of the onion and 45 per cent of rice crops have also been damaged.
Surendar Valasai said that Sindh growers have warned of a food security. Sindh government has released Rs280 million for providing instant relief to the people affected by rains. Orders have been placed with manufacturers for making 200,000 tents as all the tents available in the market have already been purchased by government and others in the wake of rains and subsequent flooding. Millions of people have become homeless during last one and a half month requiring 1 million tents to accommodate them temporarily.
He said that 1.5 million houses have collapsed or damaged in almost all the districts of Sindh as the province received 600 per cent more rains during this monsoon, which is unprecedented in last 65 years.
Valasai pointed out that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is the only national leader who himself visited different affected areas along with the Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and personally met with the victims. The PPP Chairman has directed the Sindh government to mobilize all its resources for relief operations. All the Ministers, PPP legislators and Party leaders are also on the ground to help the affectees.
Valasai attended the relief camp established by Pakistani Sweet Home Patron and former MNA Zamrud Khan in cooperation with the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) outside National Press Club, Islamabad together with Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Qamaruz Zaman Kaira and Chauchry Manzoor Ahmed. The relief camp was established to collect charity for the rain and flood victims.
He said that it was time for whole of Pakistan to pool up their resources to help the victims of Sindh, Balochistan, South Punjab and other parts of the country. The nation needs to stand up at the time when more than half of Pakistan is undergoing a catastrophic human tragedy.
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