HDF to construct 13 model villages in flood-affected areas

Human Development Foundation (HDF) will construct 13 model villages in flood affected areas to provide better accommodation to 49,641 flood victims of 6,471 families across the country.
In the model villages, inhabitants will be provided all basic facilities, including water supply, modern sewerage system, educational institutions, health-care and rehabilitation infrastructure, said Azhar Saleem, Chief Executive Officer of HDF here on Thursday, while inaugurating the first 'Model Village Project', completed in Sammar Bagh area of Mardan District.
The HDF completed the reconstruction of the first model village at Samar Bagh, Mardan in league with the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA). He said that model villages would be constructed in line with latest construction system, while alternative energy resources will be used to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the villages.
"We envision these villages having organised communities that can identify their own problems, find their solutions and would be able to resolve them through their indigenous social capital and capacity", Azhar Saleem said, adding that by this way they will become self-sustainable. He said that out of total 13 model villages, five villages would be constructed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, four in Punjab and two each in Sindh and Balochistan.
The project of 13 model villages will be completed in two phases, as seven villages will be constructed in first phase, wherein better accommodation facilities would be provided to 22,422 flood affected victims across the country, he said.
He said that the work on the project has been started with construction of Sammar Bagh model village, while the remaining six villages of the first phase will be constructed in Totakun of Malakand, Budha Pur of Jamshoro, Kotla Jaffar and Basti Klora of Rahimyar Khan, Jar of Thata and Rojhan of Jaffarabad district.
In second phase of the project, HDF will construct six model villages in Rahimyar Khan, Rajanpur, Charsadda, Noshera and Naseerabad districts for 27225 flood-affected people, he said. He said that HDF intended to move forward and started the phase of rehabilitation and reconstruction by creating model villages that will have better housing, appropriate physical infrastructure, better arrangements of sanitation, solid waste disposal, safe drinking water, paved streets with lights, schools for children, possibly also have play grounds and recreational facilities, communication hubs and locally generated renewable energy.
He said that the project will improve the quality of life and they will become self-sustainable. He further said that it is an ideal village that is people-centric with all the basic amenities of life. He said that creation of model villages is not a new concept for HDF, but it is part of its overall concept of creating hubs of sustainable communities in model districts.
He said that the HDF took Rahimyar Khan district as pilot project. As part of its physical infrastructure projects, HDF has already created models under integrated uplift programs in village 102-1/L in UC 45-P of District Rahimyar Khan and Village Khawaja in UC Mahu Dheri of District Mardan and therefore will include replication and enhancements of these aspects in the model villages now being prepared in the flood affected areas, he added.
"It is a gigantic task, for which some organisations like APPNA have already joined us and HDF will welcome additional partnerships to advance the vision", Azhar Saleem said, adding that the HDF will also be willing to collaborate with other organisations and share its experiences and expertise so that it could make a success story.
He said that HDF was raised in Pakistan with the support of Pakistani expatriates from USA in 1999. Aligned with the MDGs it follows a holistic approach of integrated community development programmes, having initiatives of social capital development, education, health, economic development and sustainable environment and serves over 400,000 people through its 8 regions created in all the provinces of Pakistan and AJK.
HDF has always very actively responded during the difficult times in the various calamities in Pakistan like drought in 2000, earthquake in 2005, IDP crisis in 2009 and is now involved in relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction works for the victims of the current devastating floods, he said.