Over 150,000 flood affected people of Khairpur Nathan Shah are still waiting for provision of tents, warm clothes and other relief items from the government side as promised earlier.
It is matter of great concern that Sindh government has provided only 6,500 tents for over 150,000 shelter-less people, as a result, thousands of innocent children and old people could be affected from winter diseases and cold.
Taluka Khairpur Nathan Shah comprises 12 Union Councils (UCs) out of which 10 UCs have badly been affected in the recent floods in August 2010 that also compelled people of Taluka to flee towards safer places.
Liaqat Mallah, a farmer of Daleji Miyani Village, told PPI that their village was destroyed by the recent heavy floods but no person of this village has so far received any tent, blankets or warm clothes.
He said we are very much afraid that how we and our innocent children will survive from the cold weather which is unaffordable and we have not enough facilities to protect our families from cold weather.
Similarly, Abdul Hameed Mallah of Pejaho Village, told PPI that some 20 people have got tents while rest population of our village is living without tents despite majority of homes have been washed out by floods.
Shakil Channa of Mir Khan Muhalla of Khairpur Nathan Shah town said that floods have badly affected our area but we are still waiting for the tents in which we can shelter our families including innocent children.
He said about 20 days ago, we came back to home from the relief camp of Kotri but now we think that we were happy at the relief camp, where at least our families were safe from winter season.
Abdul Hafiz Gadehi of Shahbaz Colony, said that floods have destroyed our homes after which we shifted our families to Hyderabad but the question is that how a common person who only earn Rs 150 per day could shift his family as the government has not provided him at least a tent for the survival of his family. He said that some NGOs are working in our town and villages but they are not providing tents as the government officials are in deep sleep in this regard.
When this correspondent tried to get version of ENT specialist over the situation, Dr Qaisar Sajjad, a ENT specialist, told that especially in the case of Khairpur Nathan Shah, if government does not take immediate steps regarding the health facilities and provide them tents, innocent children will face the pneumonia and other diseases of chest, nose, ear and throat.
He said the people without shelter could be affected from the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary (COP) diseases, which directly attack the respiratory passage of the body, which could be the cause of death.
Meanwhile, Habibullah Soomro, General Secretary of Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) said that pneumonia is the second largest killer disease of the country, which will show its face in the winter weather. He said if the innocent children are not provided warm clothes and tents, they will definitely be affected by the pneumonia.
Pakistan People's Party's (PPP) MPA Imran Zafar Laghari who belongs to Khairpur Nathan Shah said: "I am trying to get help from my party's provincial and federal government but feel that they will not help people on immediate basis".
He asked President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani for taking war-footing steps in order to prevent millions of innocent flood victims from the possible diseases. He also called for rebuilding over 0.2 million homes of Khairpur Nathan Shah Taluka.
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