Devastating rains that have triggered floods in the country’s south have affected at least 700,000 people and forced 60,000 from their homes, officials said, as a breakout of gastroenteritis killed eight, including seven children, in Badin on Wednesday.
Dr Moosa Memon said there had been a sharp rise in the number of gastroenteritis cases and other waterborne diseases were also spreading rapidly across flood-affected areas.
Angered by the deaths, protesters held a demonstration outside the office of Badin District Coordination Officer Dr Kazim Hussain Jatoi , demanding food, water and ration. More than 1,400 people hailing from various affected areas took part in the protest and condemned the government’s ill-treatment of flood-hit people.
Villages have been flooded and crops destroyed in Sindh, one of the worst-hit areas in the unprecedented floods of 2010 that affected 21 million people and caused losses of $10 billion.
“At least 700,000 people have been affected by the floods caused by the recent rains in six districts of Sindh,” Sajjad Haider Shah, an official in the provincial disaster management authority, told AFP.
“Some 60,000 people have been rendered homeless, who have migrated to safer areas,” Shah said, adding that 30 people had been killed in the past week.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah told reporters overnight that around one million people had been affected, but provided no details. Despite hectic efforts, authorities had not been able to plug even a single breach in the Mirpurkhas division.
Locals said fishermen had lost more than 50 fishing boats anchored along the jetties in Badin and Thatta districts, while floodwater was continuously damaging shelters and crops.
Rains have also caused havoc in the districts of Tando Mohammad Khan, Mirpurkhas, Thar, Umerkot and Tando Allahyar.