Season of Trials

Advent of cold weather may add to the miseries of displaced flood victims

Ali Haider is camping along with his family and a number of people from his village on the embankment of the Nara Canal.

He and other inhabitants of Barotro village in Saleh Pat tehsil of Sukkur division had to move to this elevated place in the wake of the recent floods that completely inundated his village and the surrounding fields while also destroying their houses.

Sitting on a large stone on the edge of the embankment, Ali narrates how his children tremble in the cold at night. “The winter is approaching and nights in October are cold especially if you are camping close to water,” he said, flicking the ash off his cigarette.

He said his family and other people camping on the embankment are now vulnerable to all sorts of diseases including malaria, dengue and gastro as well as the vagaries of the weather.

“One of my daughters is suffering from cold and fever,” he said, “and here even common medicines are nowhere to be found.”

Shamim, 65, is also living at one of the camps at the embankment together with his son, daughter-in-law and six grandchildren.

During the day she spends her time embroidering a piece of garment and tending to her grandchildren but at night she misses the warmth of her house in the village – a house does not exist now.

“We have survived the floods but now we live in a state of uncertainty,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes.

“We don’t know when we will be able to return to our village and how we will be able to rebuild our home. Here we are at the mercy of the government which only provides us two meals a day,” she said.

Mai Rahima, 50, is living in one of the relief camps in Sukkur.

Her family and hundreds of people of her village, located in Saleh Pat tehsil, had moved to the camp in August after their houses and crops were destroyed by floodwater.

The woman is thankful to the Almighty and the authorities for providing them shelter and food. She, however, wants to return to her house once again as her children hack and cough after catching a cold.

“It gets cold at night and this is just the beginning. I like winters. But here we are not equipped to deal with the cold weather. It would be a difficult winter if we could not move back to our native areas by the end of this month,” she said.

Mohsin, 25, is living in a relief camp in Rohri district.

According to Mohsin, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government seems to have forgotten them after establishing these camps as no attempt is being made to drain water from his native area in District Khairpur while the authorities often “forget” to provide meals to the flood victims.

“That is why the flood affected people have now started taking to the streets in protest against this apathy of the Sindh government.”

The young man who has an undergraduate degree has taken part in these protests.

“We must raise our voices as it will be very difficult for us to spend winters in these camps which are turning into hotbeds of diseases,” he said.

Claims, counterclaims

Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Sirajul Haq in his recent visit to Sukkur strongly criticized the Centre as well as the Sindh government for their alleged failure to provide relief to the flood victims and to drain floodwater.

“Neither the Sindh nor the federal governments have done anything to provide relief to the flood victims. These governments are only making plans without taking any action,” Haq said while talking to reporters after a visit to flood affected areas.

“The federal and provincial governments are only paying lip service. They have not done anything.” Haq also asked as to where has all the aid that came from all over the world gone. “This aid hasn’t reached the flood victims,” he claimed.

However, PPP leader Syed Kumail Haider Shah insisted that the Sindh government is taking effective measures to help the flood victims during his visit to relief camps in Pano Aqil, Rohri, Salah Pat and Labor Colony Sukkur.

Shah not only distributed relief items but also organized a large medical camp at Labor Colony to provide free medical treatment to children, women and elderly people. Flood victims suffering from malaria and gastroenteritis were also transferred to the hospital.

Shah said the Sindh government has started draining flood water from villages and fields. The government will not leave the flood victims alone, he said.

“We understand that winter is approaching and that the flood victims should return to their homes as otherwise their problems will increase.”

He said it was not possible for any government to avoid the destruction caused by climate change. “We received unprecedented rains which triggered unprecedented floods and destruction,” he said.

Shah said despite the scale of destruction and its limited resources, the provincial government had done a lot both to provide relief to the people as well as to rebuild what had been lost.

“People were evacuated from the flood-affected areas and brought to relief camps. They were provided with tents, food, dry ration, and medical facilities. If the Sindh government had not taken timely action thousands of people would have died,” he said.