Farmer Manthar Jalalani and his family were among the 40 families stuck in their village, spending four nights waiting for help to arrive. The water level after breaches in the nearby drains was increasing. Water had submerged almost the entire village, panicking people trapped in it.
Their food stocks had ended. Frightened that they would die of hunger, Jalalani and his eight-member family decided to leave their abode and wading through water, they reached close to a link road. “We are hungry. Give us anything you have… at least safe drinking water because my children are crying,” Jalalani told Mir Hassan Mari, leader of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) rescue team that saw the family making its way through the water and saved them.
The PFF rescue operation team with their boats and vehicles has so far rescued more than 1,800 families in Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allahyar and Badin districts. “We were staying in the village for four days without food. Children were crying and women were reluctant to walk through water fearing that they may drown. All 40 families in the village have almost lost their belongings and saw their animals dying of hunger and contaminated water,” Jalalani, resident of the flood-hit village Ghulam Hussan Jalalani, located some kilometres away from Sinjhoro in Sanghar district, narrated his episode.
“Earlier, we thought that we would remain safe in the rains, but later the breaches in the drains brought miseries for us. I have lost my cow and four goats. When the rains stopped, we left the village,” he said. “There is water everywhere in the village and mosquitoes are troubling not only people but animals as well,”
Jalalani’s family was among those that refused to leave their villages thinking they would remain safe during rains.
The farmer pointed out that some families are still trapped in the village. “They do not have food and need help,” he said.
A family lucky to be rescued, but many still trapped
