KARACHI – Before sowing any crops or launching water schemes in the flood-hit Dadu district, the government should determine if the soil is fertile enough or not and also create awareness among the flood survivors about using clean potable water for preventing waterborne diseases. This was recommended by civil society and media representatives at a media workshop titled ‘Post Flood Related Issues in Dadu’ jointly organised by Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI) and OXFAM at a local hotel.
Dadu Press Club President Nizamudian Sheikh, local journalists Wali Mohammad Lund, Akhund Rahmatullah, Raja Atif Abbasi, Mohammad Azeem Bozadar, Abid Khushak, Gulan Bhund and Masood Chandio and PDI Project Officer Ishaq Soomro spoke on the occasion.
The participants said that land fertility was badly affected in the flood-hit areas and the farmers have started cultivation in the flood-hit areas without any proper guidance and soil testing. “To prevent the wastage of resources such as seeds and fertilisers, the government should guide the farmers on crop cultivation in the post-flood situation,” they suggested.
The participants suggested that traditional sources of water like ponds, canals and the irrigation system have been badly affected by the floods while sewage has mixed with standing floodwater in many areas, which has still not been drained out by the local administration.
They feared that due to mixing of contaminated water with potable water, many cases of gastro are still being reported from the flood-affected areas and the local administrations should take appropriate measures to control the spread of diseases including hepatitis B and C.
Due to stagnant floodwaters in many areas, mosquitoes are breeding and malaria cases have increased, they said, adding that there was an urgent need of fumigation in these areas. They demanded that the local administration should make the water-testing laboratory operational in the district, which has been non-functional due to lack of resources.
There is lack of coordination between local administrations and development sector representatives and district level coordination committees should be made to produce a sense of ownership, the participants said.
They added that due to the rapidly changing political scenario in the country, post-flood issues were not being highlighted by the media properly and the government representatives, who were present in their constituencies during flood, have either gone to Islamabad or Karachi and are out of the reach of local people.
