Although nine years have passed, the cyclone that devastated the lives of many people living in Badin and Thatta districts on May 19, 1999, still exists in the memory of those who lost their nears and dears.
The catastrophe killed 300 people. However families of victims killed during the cyclone still nurture their hopes to see them back home. The widows sit at the seaside from dawn to dusk waiting for their husbands, and refuse to be labelled as widows.
Surprisingly, NGOs working here for the rehabilitation and relief are busy misappropriating the aid funds donated by several donors. Records suggest that individuals and representatives of so called NGOs used the aid against fake, bogus and irrelevant claims. According to a report prepared by the LHDP, NGOs received millions of dollars from donor agencies like World Bank but the amount was spent on signboards, movie-making and photography, while the cyclone victims are still living a miserable life without proper facilities for a human being.
One must not forget that the Left Bank Outfall Drainage also played havoc during the cyclone and about 215,080 acres fertile agriculture land became barren, 294 dehs destroyed and about 370,000 people were left homeless.
It is worth mentioning that the government had supported and assisted the affectees and announced model villages to be built for their rehabilitation.
However, no such task was carried out till today and the affectees continue to live helplessly, waiting for a miracle to happen that could change their present dismal status.