Pakistan flood victims living an uncertain life
By Jan Khaskheli
Sunday, February 27, 2011 Karachi (thenews.com.pk) – Residents of 16 small villages located near Hyderabad city and comprising a population of 20,000, are living an uncertain life after the recent flood wrought havoc, depriving them of their livelihood and basic facilities of life. In the absence of government assistance to rehabilitate the flood-affected people, the community people, comprising of Hindus and Muslims, are facing difficulties and feel insecure about their future. Dhano Patel a village chieftain and a former councilor, now works as a farmer. Sharing his experience during the flood and after, he said, they belong to the low-caste minority and instead of waiting to get Watan cards announced by the government to help the flood victims they prefer to work hard to rehabilitate themselves on self help basis. The families mostly work together, cultivate vegetables and earn a little amount. Traders frequently visit the fields, buying products and supplying them to different cities, he added. Zeema Thakur, a Gujrati speaking woman, despite her weakening health, is still eager to continue laboring to help her poor family. A mother of seven children, she continues to work from dawn to dusk. She lives in a makeshift abode with other families at the embankment of the River Indus after the community was displaced by the recent flood. All other women of the same community have the similar choice to work as vegetable harvester in the neighbourhood, as after the devastated flood they remained in a helpless situation, without labor for a long time. “It seems we were born and grew up in the same atmosphere, as all the family members work together to meet the domestic needs,” she describes. The village is surrounded by vegetable crops, where entire families can be seen busy at work. Meem Bai, another working woman was busy working in the damaged Ramapir Temple near her house to redecorate the remaining murtis kept there for the community members for worshipping. “Hunger and poverty has made us useless otherwise, earlier all the people used to donate generously to maintain the temple, bathing some of the murtis by milk on such occasions and celebrating traditional festivals. But due to persistent joblessness and destruction by the flood, the residents could not decide yet whether to rebuild their houses first or the temple,” she said. … Despite living close to the Indus River, these people are advised by the researchers not to use underground water for drinking and domestic use, as it is poisonous. The scared people are now compelled to travel long distance to fetch water from scattered river ponds. Recently, a charity organization has installed a water purification plant in his village. The provision of potable water is a major demand of the entire community living there. …
