A large number of flood-affected people, still living in tent village in the Labour Square area near Gulshan-e-Maymar, staged a rally in front of the press club on Monday to protest the “pathetic conditions” in which they are forced to live at the camp.
They complained that there is no provision of clean drinking water, a sewerage system and healthcare facilities at the tent village despite the passage of a year since floods devastated their homes.
They demanded that the government should fulfil its commitment of providing residential facilities to the flood survivors in Karachi and Hyderabad. “It is our right to live a better life in the cities of Sindh,” they added.
Carrying banners and placards, they demanded that they should be provided with the remaining amount of Rs 80,000 through Watan Cards as committed by the government. “Only Rs 20,000 have been disbursed through a flawed and corrupt process,” they added
Speaking to the participants of the rally, Rais Jan Mohammad, chairman of the Sailab Mutasireen Rabita Committee, said that people, especially women and children, are suffering due to the unavailability of water in the Labour Square area. “They have to fetch water from other areas and this sometimes causes accidents and other problems,” he added.
He said that the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, which was initially providing water to the camp through tankers, has stopped doing so now and it is also not sending sanitary staff to clean the camp, causing an increase in diseases among the residents.
“There are no medical facilities for the people and the official camp, which was visited by many ministers, has been forgotten now,” he said.
Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum Chairman Mohammad Ali Shah, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Executive Director Karamat Ali, PILER’s Zulfiqar Shah and Salma Mahar also spoke on the occasion. They demanded that the government should provide houses to the flood-affected people in Karachi.
