An emergency relief operation was started on Monday in the drought-hit area of District Tharparkar. The relief has been launched on the directive of the Sindh government and 208,247 families of Thar will be provided with 50Kgs of wheat each, free of cost.
The list has been provided by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). This measure has been taken for all the Seven talukas of the district, and the aim is to feed every struggling family in the region. The district administration has advised the head of each family to produce their CNIC, in order to receive their bags of wheat. Moreover the food department of the Government of Sindh has already provided wheat bags to the local District Administration, so that they can start delivery to the people most in need of healthy and free food.
All the wheat bags that were made available by the provincial government have been shifted to their respective talukas, like Mithi, Islamkot, Diplo, Nagarparkar, Kaloi, Dahli and Chachro. While the government has aimed to feed everybody they possibly can, many families are still going to go without a wheat bag, as proper arrangements were not made to deliver the bags individually to each home.
This poses problems for the residents as most of them have already been facing difficulties in travelling due to the prevalent drought like situation in the region. Additionally, wheat alone is not enough to solve the issues facing the residents of this area, who have to sacrifice a lot just to get to the storage facilities where the wheat bags are stashed.
It would be a good idea if the health department of the province included the provision of other essential enmities like clean water, medicine and milk in their ongoing relief programs. The government should also make an effort to improve the conditions of hospitals in the area, in order to fight against the outbreak of any diseases, as they are wont to do in areas with lack of clean drinking water and high levels of malnutrition
The Deputy Commissioner Tharparkur has issued directives to the functionaries concerned for ensuring proper facilities at the centres and security to the officials and workers engaged in the process. The officials had been told to ensure that the beneficiaries should face no problem in receiving the relief wheat.
The Thar desert region was declared ‘drought-hit’ by the Sindh government about a month ago after insufficient rains in the area caused recurrence of drought and prompted re-elected Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to announce the relief package. Yet no one thought to ease the suffering of the locals a bit more by even offering to deliver wheat bags to the family that needs it the most.
It would be a good idea if the health department of the province included the provision of other essential enmities like clean water, medicine and milk in their ongoing relief programs. The government should also make efforts to improve the conditions of hospitals in the area, in order to fight against the outbreak of any diseases or similar issues, as they are wont to do in areas with lack of clean drinking water and high levels of malnutrition.
Due to the current situation of the residents of this great region, many families, and in some cases, entire villages have started to migrate to the area surrounding the local barrage, as it is the only place where sufficient water for consumption can be found.
It is high time that the governments pays this growing issue the attention it deserves, especially considering that the current party in charge of the province, PPP, enjoyed great results in this constituency in the last elections. Hopefully they will honour the trust of the people of the entire region.
The writer is a retired doctor of the Sindh Health Department
Published in Daily Times, October 4th 2018.