EDITORIAL: As if the Nature too is unkind to the poor and destitute people. Be it a natural calamity, a mine cave-in or road accident the death comes to them in great ferocity, while it soft paddles to the rich and mighty. So was the case of a distant village in District Dadu, where fire burnt the whole night, consuming nine lives, and causing critical injuries to many, as it also burnt down houses, the granaries and the livestock.
On their own, the villagers did their best to quench the ravaging fire but they were short of water. And their phone calls for fire tenders from nearby town named Mahar remained un-responded. The villagers are now left with nothing to restart their lives. Among the aggrieved is Imamuddin Chandio who collected the charred bodies of his three sons and a daughter as the flames subsided.
Bahar Khan lost two sons and a daughter while his wife sustained serious burns while trying to save their children. His other two sons also suffered serious burns and are said to be in critical condition. Quite coincidently, three more villages too were hit by fire within the District Dadu. But there was no loss of life while many houses were burnt and cattle roasted alive.
The one thing common to these incidents is a generally nonchalant response of the concerned authorities in the district headquarters. With houses completely destroyed and unlivable, food stuff on short supply and the cattle no more in the farms the residents of the village are confronted with forbidding challenge to restart their lives.
They need help and right now. It is heartening to note that newly sworn-in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took notice of the tragic happening and has told Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah that the federal government was ready to help the unfortunate victims.
But one is sceptic about this because history of such promises of help is not very encouraging. It’s quite routine on the part of government functionaries and public figures to promptly promise help and rehabilitation of devastated people, but the follow-up on such promises remains uncertain. Let this incident prove that perception wrong.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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