President monitors flood relief activities in Mirpurkhas

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday visited and interacted with the elected representatives as well as government officials concerned of the flood affected areas of Sindh and monitored the flood relief activities through satellite video conferencing from the special Flood Control Cell of Aiwan-e-Sadr.
Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that on the directions of President, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and relevant provincial ministers, including those of Muhajir Qaumi Movement (MQM), were encamped in Mirpurkhas to discuss issues about Mirpurkhas division comprising Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar, Sanghar and Umerkot via video conferencing.
The spokesperson said that during the video conference, the president directed the Chief Minister of Sindh, public representatives of the flood affected areas and all officials concerned to expedite relief work and step up efforts so that all those left without shelter in the affected areas get shelter before the fast approaching winter season.
Those who were present during the video conferencing included among others Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza, Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar, Secretary General to the President M. Salman Faruqui, Members of National Assembly Nawab Yousaf Talpur, Sherry Rehman, Fouzia Wahab and Farahnaz Ispahani, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar, Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Zafar Iqbal Qadir, Chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Ali Arshad Hakeem and other senior officials of the departments concerned.
The spokesperson said that during the briefing on Mirpurkhas district, the president was informed that over 31,000 tents, over 300,000 family packs, 23,000 blankets, nearly 800 water purification units, three de-watering pumps and over 16,000 mosquito nets had been distributed in Mirpurkhas alone along with other supplies including drinking water, medicines and food items for over 700,000 flood victims in the district. In Sanghar, over 35,000 tents, 241,000 family packs, six de-watering pumps, 4000 mosquito's nets and other food items and commodities have been provided for over one million flood and rain affected people in Sanghar, the meeting was informed.
The district co-ordination officers concerned informed the president about health facilities and availability of medicines in these districts along with other steps taken in light of the president's earlier directives to prevent outbreak of various diseases particularly dengue fever and hepatitis. The president also inquired about need assessment and supply position of various commodities in the affected areas of Sindh.
The spokesperson said that on a point raised by the Speaker of National Assembly about the stagnant water in Badin, the President directed that a special team of experts of WAPDA (Water and Development Authority) should visit Badin immediately and propose a drainage plan on a permanent basis. Dr Fehmida Mirza had pointed that most of the floodwater drained out from other areas had stagnated in Badin and urged that special plans needed for drainage there.
The Sindh Chief Minister said that, in line with the president's directives, he along with the cabinet members concerned were visiting and monitoring relief activities in all the affected districts of the province and addressing the problems of the affected people on priority basis.
The chief minister further said that he would continue to visit flood-affected areas physically and through video conferencing to step up relief activities. The president said that the flood havoc may be a regular feature due to climatic change and called for making long-term plans to meet such eventualities in future as well. He called for a study to be carried out to examine feasibility of diverting flood waters to the natural catchment areas in deserts for use in future and for irrigating parched and dry land in interior Sindh.