Karachi, some ‘dry’ districts misrepresented as flooded

KARACHI: In yet another display of bureaucratic inefficiency, the Sindh government has included Karachi and some other districts not even touched by the recent floods, in the list of the affected areas. It has also record of the crop damage caused by the deluge in these places.
The provincial agriculture department, after a detailed survey, has forwarded a crop-damage report to the federal government that includes Karachi and other districts of the province, which were neither affected by the recent floods, well-placed sources told Pakistan Today.
The survey is said to have been conducted to ascertain the exact cost of damages caused by the natural disaster so that remedial measures could be taken to facilitate the growers.
The flood-affected districts in the survey include Karachi, Matiyari, Hyderabad, Benazirabad, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Tando Muhammad Khan, Khairpur and Umerkot.
The report claims that 160,190 acres of agricultural, cotton on 58,095 acres, rice on 47,928 acres and sugarcane on 32,528 acres were destroyed in Khairpur district.
In Benazirabad, 65,000 acres land was damaged and cotton on 30,500 acres and sugarcane on 20,000 acres were destroyed. In Sanghar, 15, 572 acres land was damaged and cotton on 13,298 acres was destroyed. In Mirpurkhas, 32,472 acres land was destroyed and cotton on 9,760 acres was badly affected.
In Umerkot, 24,281 acres land was destroyed and cotton on 4,859 acres damaged. In Matiyari, 59,072 acres land was damaged while cotton on 38,648 acres and sugarcane on 750 acres was destroyed. Cotton on 2,727 acres and sugarcane on 4,350 acres was damaged in Tando Mohammad Khan. The report said 161 acres of land was destroyed in Hyderabad and cotton on 40 acres damaged.
In Karachi, the floods destroyed 113 acres of land and cotton on 15 acres and vegetables on rest of the land were affected.
The Sindh government claims that it faces an agricultural loss of more than Rs 76 billion on account of the floods as standing Kharif crops on over 1.6 million acres have been damaged in the province.