After rains, Badin hit with shortage of potable water

Despite knee-deep water due to heavy rains, the affected people of Badin district have no water to drink.
Contaminated water is being used in several areas of the district, whereas the internally displaced persons are also not being provided clean drinking water in government camps.
“I see hundreds of children with skin and gastric diseases. I don’t see serious efforts by the government or any donor agency in the area. It is a serious issue and the government should take urgent steps to overcome the situation,” said Ameer Mandhro of the Mandhar Development Society.
Mandhro said that the condition near the coastal areas, where contaminated water is being used, is miserable.
Medical camps should be established immediately, where eye, skin and child specialists should be available for at least the next three weeks, he suggested.
“If people are not provided clean drinking water in the government camps, then one can’t expect anything good in remote areas either. I’m afraid of diseases in Badin city because they can spread to the original residents of the city,” he said.
“We have to protect not only our children, but their families as well. Roughly two million people urgently require safe drinking water and basic sanitation facilities,” he added.
He said that his organisation gathered information in two Tando Bago and Badin talukas.
“These heavy rains have devastated water supply infrastructure in almost 90 percent of the villages of these two talukas,” he added.
Mandhro said that there is no drinking water left in the hand pumps in the villages adjacent to the coastal areas, and the water level is increasing in several areas due to floodwaters.
“Supplying drinking water to villagers daily is impossible, but I think repairing old water supply infrastructure immediately can control the situation,” he said.
Flood victims residing in the camps should be provided safe drinking water and a zero-tolerance policy adopted by top officials can work well in this regard, he added.
Otherwise, he feared, the situation in the coming days would be pitiable. He requested experienced non-governmental organisations working in other parts of the country to help the people of Badin and other flood-affected areas.
He said that donor agencies and the government must realise the gravity of the situation and not rely on information provided by the officials who do not even leave their air-conditioned rooms.