A parliamentary panel was informed on Thursday that 923 cases of mice biting have been reported, rendering three people dead, in Peshawar and within other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Officials of the KP Health department, while briefing to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights which met under the chairmanship of Babar Nawaz Khan, said that provincial health department was aware of the grim situation and necessary steps were being taken to check the issue.
Syed Essa Nori, Farhana Qamar, Phyllis Azeem, Surriya Asghar, Kiran Haider, Asiya Naz Tanoli, Zahra Wadood Fatemi, Amra Khan, Dr Nafisa Shah, Dr Shazia Sobia, Musarat Rafique Mahesar, Munaza Hassan, Aliya Kamran Murtaza and Naseema Hafeez Panezai attended the meeting. While discussing the problem of non-availability of clean drinking water in Thar and other humanitarian crisis in the drought-hit areas of Sindh province, the committee requested Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to establish a proper system for providing clean drinking water to Thar.
The officials of the Sindh government informed the committee that provincial government initially declared drought condition in Tharparkar district through a notification. They said drought affected people and the areas were provided with free of cost wheat. Moreover, provincial food department immediately arranged shifting of wheat from the surplus districts and delivered to the revenue authorities at Thar for further distribution amongst the affected people of Thar. Sindh Food Department so far released 1,047,850 wheat bags in Thar. They further briefed that approx 185 dispensaries were established in different towns of Thar District. In addition, 56 doctors were deputed in all towns of Thar district and 85 dispensaries were also established in various towns as well as affected areas of Thar.
Committee Chairman Babar Nawaz Khan said if clean water was provided to the Islamabad Capital Territory through pipelines from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa then why same kind of facility was not provided to the people of Thar. He said the Sindh Minister for Health would also be asked to establish a nursing institute to improve the health situation in the area.
The committee also recommended calling heads of all non-government organisations working in Thar and nearby areas to come to the next meeting and brief them about their services for establishing a strategy for better living conditions of natives. The committee directed to initiate a special sanitation drive in Peshawar to get rid of this problem and ensure health of people. They also asked to request Minister for Information and Broadcasting to play a promo on Pakistan Television (PTV) to inculcate awareness among masses for taking precautionary measure to get rid of mice from their respective areas.
On raising the issue of mouse bite to committee member Musarat Rafique Mahesar at the Parliament Lodges, the lawmakers recommended to call Deputy Speaker and the Chairman of Capital Development Authority (CDA) to brief members regarding steps taken for eradication of mice from the capital.
The committee took up the agenda item regarding actions taken so far with respect to burning of an innocent girl at Abbottabad as well as agenda item regarding the issue of death of more than 30 people by eating poisonous sweets at Layyah. The Standing Committee on Human Rights recommended that agenda items may be deferred for the time being as no representative from the respective areas was present at the meeting.