Says steps being taken to clear water from fields
The Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah was visiting rain and flood hit districts for the last 3 days to take stock of the relief and drainage efforts. Talking to the media at a relief camp in Matiari district on Saturday, the CM said hundreds of villages in 4 Unions of New Saeedabad taluka were inundated. He added that the irrigation authorities had planned to drain the rainwater from those UCs.
According to him, an old and natural channel Marakh Wah would be used to drain water from the flooded UCs. The CM reiterated that the government was trying to ensure that the farmers cultivated the winter crops especially the wheat crop. He said efforts were being taken to clear water from 75 percent of the submerged agricultural fields. “The government would also financially support the affected farmers by either providing them cash support or in the form of kind,” he added.
He informed that the Sindh government required 1.5 million tents for distribution among the displaced people. However, the government could place orders for only 355,000 which would be delivered in one month’s time. The CM said the medical camps had also been set up in the relief camps and the doctors were providing treatment for various common illnesses. He apprised that the government was also supplying medicines to the camps for treatment of the patients suffering from Dengue.
Earlier, Shah directed the irrigation officials to drain water from the villages in Matiari district towards the Indus river through Chandan Mori. During his visit to the rain-affected areas of Matiari on Saturday the CM said the flash flood from hundreds of villages of 4 Union Councils in New Saeedabad taluka would be drained towards Rohri canal.
The CM later visited the tent city along Mehran highway where he interacted with the flood affected persons. He asked the affected people to tell him if they were receiving ration and other facilities. The people urged the CM to ensure swift drainage of rainwater from their villages so that they could go back to their homes.
The CM told the people that the purpose of his ongoing visits to the flood hit districts, which started on September 15 from Thatta, was to assess drainage and the plans to drain rain and flood water. The CM later visited the seminary which had been set up in the tent city and interacted with the children who were reciting the Holy Book. The provincial minister Makhdoom Mehboobuz Zaman and Jam Khan Shoro, Special Assistant Qasim Naveed Qamar and other officers were also present on the occasion.
Meanwhile Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah reached Mehrabpur near Sakrand on a short visit here today to attend the Namaz-e-Janaza of mother of PPP MNA Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah and former Taluka Nazim Syed Ghulam Ali Shah who passed away on Saturday.
