Being the first national institution to respond to the flood affectees’ plight in Sindh, the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) has allocated Rs 258 million and started relief operations to help 400,000 displaced individuals in 14 union councils adversely ravaged by the raging floodwaters in Badin district.
Through its three partner organisations – the National Rural Support Programme, the Badin Rural Development Society, and the Health and Nutrition Development Society – the PPAF has launched relief operations in 14 of the 46 adversely affected union councils of Badin. During a visit on Thursday, the PPAF showed the media personnel that dry food items – including flour, pulses, salt, sugar, red chilli and tea – are being distributed among the flood survivors of Badin.
The PPAF officials told the media that the organisation has so far distributed these items among 31,997 families of the district.
“We have distributed hygiene kits – including buckets with lid, bath mugs, hand-wash soaps, and laundry soaps – to 5,660 families. Potable water is being provided on regular basis and so far 14,274 families have availed of the fresh water facilities, whereas 625 families have been provided tents,” said the PPAF officials.
To provide healthcare services and preventing outbreak of waterborne diseases among the affectees, the PPAF has set up seven mobile medical camps in each union council and has provided healthcare services to over 5,944 patients. Furthermore, the PPAF has provided fresh drinking water to 98,000 people and shelters to over 600 affected families.
On the completion of the relief phase, the PPAF would start working on early recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation, and mitigation and preparedness phases of disaster management along the Sindh coast, as in other areas of the country.
The PPAF is already executing multi-pronged Rs 2.6 billion Sindh Coastal Area Development (SCAD) programme in Sindh, with allocation of over 65 percent of its resources to Badin and Thatta districts. Under the SCAD, the PPAF is carrying out various projects of social mobilisation, integrated infrastructure upgrading projects, and technical innovation projects, health, mobile medical camps, education, livelihood rehabilitation, and targeting the ultra poor.
To date, as many as 2,691 infrastructure schemes benefiting 730,158 people – 50 percent of whom are females – have been completed in the coastal communities. The PPAF has established 71 health centres in Tharparkar, Thatta, Karachi and Badin districts. Of these 71 centres, 27 are in the SCAD area.
These adopted health centres have been provided support for repairs, renovation of buildings, provision of medical equipment, medicines, capital items and additional staff.
It has set up 210 schools benefiting over 25,000 students – 10,995 boys and 11,210 girls – in the SCAD.
These schools have been provided with financial and technical support for repair and renovation of buildings, drinking water facility, toilets, furniture, teaching aids, uniform and shoes and training of teachers.
Under the Targeting Ultra Poor (TUP) programme, assets of up to Rs 15,000 are being provided to each of the 1,000 selected households with Rs 12,000 as subsistence allowance and social healthcare of Rs 12,000 over a period of one year.
In addition, trainings are provided for a maximum of Rs 3,000 per beneficiary. The target areas for the TUP have been the coastal areas of Badin, Thatta and Karachi West districts and the adjacent union councils of Tharparkar.
To cope with last year’s floods, the PPAF disbursed Rs 965 million for relief activities. The initial contribution was made from internal resources, whereas the remaining financing was provided through a diverse range of partnerships – United States Agency for International Development, World Bank and KfW (German Development Bank).
The PPAF carried out relief operations in 22 districts, with flood survivors receiving 1.8 million kilogrammes of food and 6,000 hygiene kits.
The organisation established 105 medical camps where 73,000 patients were treated. Moreover, 1,500 shelters were also established, whereas 140 hand pumps were installed for clean drinking water facility.
President Asif Ali Zardari directed the federal and provincial authorities on Thursday to import tents and mosquito repellents and nets on urgent basis. “The tent manufacturing capacity in the country is only 7,000 to 8,000 tents per day, which is far too short of the actual demand, so the government has decided to import tents,” Zardari said during a video conference at the Bilawal House to review relief and rehabilitation works for the flood survivors. Speaking about the details of the president’s monitoring scheme, Presidential Office Spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Zardari has also directed the provincial health department to closely monitor the demand, supply and quality of medicines being dispatched to the affected areas. MNAs, MPAs and district officials of their respective areas were present at their monitoring cells in Sanghar and Umerkot to explain the situation in their areas. Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan was also present with the president in the Special Control Room. Separately, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah was present at the CM House’s control room to participate in the discussion via video conferencing. Babar said the president directed that adequate fumigation be carried out to prevent the outbreak of dengue. Furthermore, the distribution of ‘Pakistan cards’ would begin in Badin and Thatta districts on the directives of the president. Zardari directed the party leaders to remain close with the flood survivors in their hour of distress. Babar said the president has already stated that he would stay in Karachi for as long as it takes to supervise the flood relief measures. Zardari also directed the party office-bearers to prevent the outbreak of diseases by burying the carcasses of dead livestock. Monitoring relief through video conferencing would also continue from the presidency in Islamabad.
In response to the recent rains in Sindh, the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF)-Pakistan has begun rescue and relief operation for the flood-affected people in different districts. Until now, WWF-Pakistan has provided dry food ration, and mosquito nets and repellents to 200 displaced families of 21 villages around the Chotiari reservoir, one of the sites of WWF’s Indus for All Programme. Senior WWF officials, including NRM Coordinator Umeed Khalid, Programme Coordinator Nasir Ali Panhwar and Site Manager Chotiari Zafar Ali Talpur, and representatives of community-based organisations were also present on the occasion. The ration distributed to each affected family included 20kg flour, 3kg sugar, 5kg rice, 2kg pulses, 2.5kg ghee, 800g tea, 400g red chilli powder, 1kg salt, a pack of matchboxes, two soaps, a mosquito net and two bottles of mosquito repellents. Moreover, provision of cooked food and clean drinking water was also ensured to 400 families continuously for four days. The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research facilitated 700 flood-affected patients in the area with a mobile health unit and supply of sizeable quantity of medicines. Talking to the media, the WWF officials said over 80 percent of total villages and major cities and towns of Sanghar district are inundated. “Thousands of mud, semi-mud and baked-brick houses have collapsed. Over 30 human casualties have been reported so far, whereas 2,000 people were injured in various incidents. The rains have also caused a number of diseases and massive damage to agriculture, livestock and infrastructure,” they added.
Head of European Union delegation, Lars Gunnar Wigemark, called on Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah at the CM House on Thursday. They discussed various issues, particularly the situation prevailing in Sindh due to heavy rains that have resulted in massive damages to the lives and properties of the people. Shah welcomed Wigemark and apprised him about the downpour in the province. He said rains have affected almost all 23 districts of the province, out of which 11 districts are adversely affected. He said over 5.7 million people have been affected and almost all the crops have been damaged. He maintained that precious human lives and over 100,000 cattle have also died, whereas schools, infrastructure, road network have also been damaged. He added that the Sindh government is working in collaboration with the UNDMA, PDMA and District Relief Committees on war-footing basis, but there is acute need of tents, food items, medicines and clean drinking water among other things. Shah appealed the international community and welfare agencies to come forward and provide relief goods, medicines tents, etc. Wigemark assured that the EU would extend its maximum cooperation and assistance for the rain-affected people. He said the EU would play its role for the relief and rehabilitation of the survivors.
Japan has decided to extend an emergency grant of $10 million to Pakistan as an additional assistance for the flood damage in response to the UN Rapid Response Plan launched on September 18. During the Japan-Pakistan bilateral meeting in New York between Japan Foreign Affairs Minister Koichiro Gemba and Pakistan Foreign Affairs Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Gemba informed Khar of the said assistance. Pakistan has been hit by heavy rains since the beginning of August, which has caused floods in Sindh and Balochistan, forcing many people to evacuate because of damage to their houses and submergence of agricultural land. According to the UN, as of September 18, a total of 233 people were reported dead and the total number of those affected could be approximately 5.4 million. On the request of the Pakistani government, in light of friendly relations between Japan and Pakistan, the Japanese government had already made the decision on September 9 to provide, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, emergency relief goods equivalent to $450,000. Thus, the total amount of assistance will be approximately $10.45 million.
