The Sindh government would ask the federal government to extend the date of the voter verification programme as the process has been adversely affected due to heavy rains in the province, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said on Sunday.
Briefing the media after a meeting of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Sindh Council held at the Chief Minister’s House, PPP-Sindh President Shah said many issues regarding the circumstances faced by the people of the province came under discussion during the meeting. He said the heavy rains have left the province in a far worse condition than last year’s flood had.
“The World Bank and Asian Bank’s estimates regarding losses match with the estimates of the provincial government. Eight million people have been affected by the rains and 382 have died. The agriculture sector suffered a loss of Rs 217 billion,” he added. He claimed people had died because of malaria or other diseases, but not due to hunger.
The chief minister said he was shocked at the prevailing poverty across the province, which is under his governance. He said, “The first instalment of the ‘Pakistan cards’ has been issued to the flood survivors, and the government is currently devising a long-term policy for tackling disaster situations.”
He also said notices on illegal allotment on water crossings have been issued. Moreover, he added, the Sindh Assembly would pass an act against those who occupy land on waterways and all present allotments on them would be cancelled. “A law will be formulated to abolish all illegal allotments on waterways across the province,” Shah said.
Besides, free seeds and fertilisers would be distributed among growers owning 25 acres, he added. He said almost all members of the Sindh Council meeting demanded agriculture loans and other taxes to be written off. They said most people in their districts could not be rehabilitated and criticised the role of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority-Sindh, saying its role is not in evidence, he added.
The chief minister sought the Pakistan Army’s help to remove encroachments on waterways across Sindh. He announced that until the next crop of wheat, flour would be provided to the survivors free-of-cost. He said 400,000 tonnes of wheat that was to be exported would now be used to provide free flour to the rain- and flood-hit people.
He also said the previous governments had illegally allotted lands along the rivers and other water crossings to some people, which disables water-crossing and causes disasters every year. He further said the capacity of the Left Bank Outfall Drain would be increased from 4,000 cusecs to 20,000 cusecs, adding that an old waterway of the Indus River, which starts from Nawabshah and passes through six districts of the province, would be restored.
He claimed the government has provided food to 70 percent of the rain-hit survivors in lower Sindh.
