| By: Bari Baloch
QUETTA: The situation is heading fast towards a big human crisis where hundreds of thousands of flood affectees are living under the open sky from Dera Allayar, the bordering town of Balochistan with Sindh in sweltering heat without having proper relief.
It is worth mentioning here that 13 districts of Balochistan had been affected due to torrential rains, generating flash floods in the third week of July this year. The worse-hit districts were Jafarabad, Naseerabad, Kohlu, Barkhan, Kachchi and Harnai. But the situation became worse when floodwater that entered from Jacobabad area of Sindh and badly affected the entire district of Jafarabad. Jafarabad is one of the only two districts out of 30 which was irrigated through canal system. Initially the devastating floodwaters marooned Dera Allayar, the District Headquarter of Jafarabad. Over 97 percent of town has been inundated. Later on, it affected the entire district including Rojhan Jamali, the hometown of former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Human losses were not more than 13, however, the financial losses are in billions of rupees.
The floodwater not only pushed the entire district towards irreparable losses but it also paralysed it administratively because all key offices of the district administration in the District Headquarter and other important towns of district submerged in water. “There is no administration in the district so far,” said an officer of district administration on the condition of anonymity, adding: “Absolute majority of police personnel have gone to save their family members”.
Floodwaters have affected over 80 per cent houses in the district forcing around one million population to move towards safer places. So far half of the population of district has migrated to Dera Murad Jamali, Sibi and other safe places while one million affectees have reached from Jacobabad and other flood hit areas of Sindh.
“This is quite a large number of people and arrangements are insufficient to meet the needs of such a large number of people,” said a source in district administration in Dera Murad Jamali. Relief camps have been established in Dera Murad Jamali, Sibi and other areas by civilian administration, Army and Frontier Corps Balochistan for provision of assistance to affectees but these are not sufficient keeping in view the large number of affectees.Hundreds of thousands of affectees are lying along roadside waiting for help of the government authorities.
Women and children are the worst sufferers of harshness of weather. Journalist observed that women folk were busy to cook some food for their children in an inhospitable situation in the day time and in the nights they were busy to create a better atmosphere for sleeping of their kids by using hand-made fans. “Children cannot sleep because of heat therefore we are compelled to wake in the nights,ö complained a lot of mothers, adding: ôWe have not experienced such difficulties in our lives”.
Gastro and other waterborne disease are spreading and these are badly affecting the children. This can be gauged from the fact that daily the average number of gastro affected children is 80 who are brought to treatment in civil hospital Sibi.
So far 600 families have been registered in relief camp Sibi while the unregistered number is manifold in the city who have taken shadow of trees and railway station.
Flood affectees were not satisfied with the relief which is being provided by the government though the condition of relief camp of Sibi were looking relatively better. An official of UNICEF who was working with health authorities of government painted a very bleak picture of condition of affectees and feared that possibility of a human crisis could not be ruled out if any delay was made in provision of proper relief and shelter to affectees.
There was a general impression in Naseerabad that massive devastation that was caused in Jaffarabad was man-made and stalwarts of PPP and Federal Ministers particularly Ejaz Jhakrani and Syed Khursheed Shah are being held responsible for directing flood water to Jafarabad. “The Federal Minister from Jacobabad deliberately diverted direction of floodwater to Jafarabad to save Shahbaz Airbase and his agriculture lands by creating breaches in Quetta bypass,” alleged former Prime Mister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
Mir Zafarullah Jamali, Deputy Chairman Senate Mir Jan Muhammad Jamali and National Party have demanded an inquiry in this connection because they are of the view that Jacobabad could have averted massive destruction if breaches had not been made in Quetta bypass in Jacobabad area of Sindh.
http://thebalochhal.com/2010/08/major-human-crisis-looms-in-balochistan/ |
