KARACHI: The Sindh government has so far failed to restore several road links that connect villages and towns to major cities of the province in the aftermath of the floods, which means that many people will be unable to reach their native areas to celebrate the forthcoming Eidul Azha.
On the right of the Indus River, from Kashmore to Thatta, dozens of major towns like Khairpur Nathan Shah, Shahdadkot, Qubo Saeed Khan, Mehar, Johi, Sujawal and Sehwan as well as the suburbs of Jacobabad Town were still submerged or surrounded by floodwater.
The 50-kilometre strip of the Indus Highway from Sehwan to Bhan Saeedabad, and from Dadu city to Khairpur Nathan Shah also remained inundated. Vehicles have to plough through three to four feet of water to reach Jacobabad city, while an area of 200 miles from Jacobabad to Sehwan was still submerged.
“The Sindh government’s failure to restore road links means that many people will not be able to celebrate Eid in their native areas,” former Sindh irrigation secretary Idrees Rajput told Pakistan Today. Two months have passed by and the Sindh Irrigation Department and other authorities had failed to drain out floodwater from these areas.
When President Asif Ali Zardari last visited the province, he was briefed about the rehabilitation activities in the villages, but the president was unsatisfied with the plans and the progress. Later, the Sindh government had again prepared a briefing on the rehabilitation process that would be presented to the president on today.
