HYDERABAD, Sept 13: While people in units 2 and 11 of Latifabad, and Qasimabad and Latifabad talukas are facing immence hardships with stagnant rainwater rotting stinking, the authorities have claimed that life has returned to almost normal as the city has recovered from rain ravages earlier than anticipated.
An official handout issued here on Wednesday said that water which had submerged thickly-populated areas because of the unprecedented rains on Sept 7 and 8 had been pumped out from almost 90 per cent areas and relief operations were in full swing in unit 11 of Latifabad.
It said three Sindh cabinet members — Shabbir Qaimkhani, Waseem Akhtar and Salahuddin Hyder — supervised the relief work in affected areas, directing officials to be on their toes round-the-clock to provide relief to people.
They, along with District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil, Naib Nazim Zafar Rajput, Latifabad Taluka Nazim Sabir Qaimkhani, Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Rabita Committee joint in-charge Abdul Haseeb, committee member Waseem Aftab, MPAs Naeem Ishtiaque and Arshad Shah, Board of Revenue senior member Syed Anwar Haider, local government additional chief secretary Mirza Karim Beg and Hyderabad DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed visited various areas in the city, including the worst-hit Latifabad and Qasimabad townships.
They were told by the district nazim that because of ceaseless efforts of the district government over the past 24 to 36 hours, most of Latifabad had been cleared of water and the areas were dry and shopkeepers and vendors were doing their business.
The handout further said that in Latifabad’s unit 11, water was still standing. The ministers and elected representatives waded through knee- to waist-deep water for almost a mile to inspect the pumping machinery submerged by water.
The pump was salvaged and made operational. Another pump was under installation but union council representatives said they required 400HP pumps to drain out the entire water. The district government also made operational pumps and drain pipes lying unused for a long time in stores.
Waseem Akhtar ordered the DCO to arrange for the machinery quickly. From unit 11 of Latifabad, water was being pumped out at 3,000 gallons per minute into a shallow ground leading to a protective bund near the Indus River from where it was released into the river. Nine outlets were operating round-the-clock.
The BoR member informed the ministers that the Sindh government had released Rs70 million for relief work. Additionally, 10,000 food packages were being provided to the people of Hyderabad under the prime minister’s orders and more such packages were being sent to Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Thatta, and Badin.
The team also visited a medical camp set up by the MQM in Latifabad-11 where during the last 24 hours, over 3,500 patients of gastroenteritis, skin and other ailments had been treated.
