Dr. Fehmida appeals media, civil society to focus on Badin calamity

ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Dr. Fehmida Mirza on Tuesday appealed media and civil society to play their role to help the calamity stricken people of Badin and adjoining districts on war-footing basis.

Talking to PTV, Dr. Fehmida Mirza said that though her government was standing on its feet to provide flood and rain-hit masses in Badin and adjoining districts with relief packages, but it cannot coup with the calamity without the participation of civil society.

She said Badin witnessed, for the first time ever in the history, the worst and the cruellest spate of downpours, which wreaked havoc with the routine life of 1.8 million populations and devastated 85 percent of crops in the region.

She said the met office recorded unanticipated 600 millimetre rain in Badin this year which left the entire district topsy-turvy.

"The government has set up more than three dozen camps to provide affected people with relief packages on immediate basis," she said.

She further said that, affected people need tents and food on war-footing basis.

"The people in my area are felling a prey of starvation and are dying on roads with no food and shelter" she added.

NA Speaker said that she was all poised to take an eagle-eyed view of the flood-hit areas of Badin today with Prime Minister Side You Raze Gianni.

To a question, The NA Speaker said that I fear that gastro and skin diseases may broke out in the rain and flood hit area shelter camps which were flooded with the affected people where 200 diarrhoea and 42 snake bite cases had been registered so far.

Badin, the election constituency of Dr Femora Mira have gone delinked with other parts owing to floodwater.

"I would later apprise President and Prime Minister of the entire situation" NA Speaker Fehmida Mirza said.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011