KARACHI / MITHI: As people continued to suffer from severe shortages of food, water and medicines in large areas of Sindh’s Tharparkar district, another nine malnourished children are reported to have died, taking the toll to 41 and, according to unconfirmed reports, to 100.

Large numbers of women nursing their sick children and hungry people waiting for food were seen in villages.

With reports of people’s misery being flashed by media, the government suddenly woke up and Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah announced a relief package of Rs100 million and ordered distribution of 60,000 bags of wheat among the affected people. He also announced that Rs200,000 compensation would be paid to each bereaved family.

The chief minister who visited Mithi told newsmen on his return to Karachi on Friday that he had ordered arrest of the medical superintendent of the Civil Hospital, Mithi, where most of the children had died and registration of criminal cases against him. He also removed the district’s director health, suspended the director and the deputy director of livestock and the deputy commissioner and transferred the SP.

Mr Shah said he had constituted three committees for a thorough inquiry into the causes of the tragedy and to fix responsibility and ensure transparency in distribution of wheat.

About the plight of drought-affected people, he said it was not only malnutrition which had caused the death of the children because most of them died of pneumonia.

The number of children who had recently died in the district because of different reasons could rise, he said.

To provide medicines needed by the hospitals in the district, Rs10m was being immediately released, he said, adding that the amount might be increased if more funds were required.

He said two newborn children had been taken to Hyderabad from the Mithi hospital because their condition was serious.

The chief minister said he had issued directives for supply of fodder for livestock in Thar within 24 hours.

He admitted that there were weaknesses in the government system which needed to be improved.

When asked why action had been taken only against officials and not against the ministers concerned, he said the officials were responsible for the tragedy because they had failed to discharge their duty.

He said the cold weather was also responsible for diseases and deaths but another reason was failure of officials to timely distribute wheat provided by the government. The deputy commissioner was responsible for coordinating the distribution and the SP for maintaining law and order.

Besides a departmental inquiry, he said, a committee headed by DIG of Hyderabad zone Sanaullah Abbasi would look into criminal negligence of the officials and fix responsibility. PPP leader Taj Haider, a member of the committee, will monitor the situation and stay in Tharparkar for a week.

He said another committee headed by the MPA of the area would ensure transparency in wheat distribution.

Sindh Information Minister Sherjeel Memon said when drought hit the desert area in the past, wheat was provided to people at half the price but now it would be distributed free.

The population of Tharparkar district is about 1.6 million living in scattered villages of five to 10 families. People depend on rain for growing food crops and fodder. Though the district received some rain in November last year, it was scattered and not enough to irrigate land.

Sindh Health Secretary Iqbal Durrani told the chief minister in Mithi that keeping in mind the national child mortality rate, the figure of the children’s death in the backward and remote areas of Thar over the past few months was not alarming.

Admitting that the district lacked proper healthcare facilities, he said efforts were being made to provide medicines to Thar hospitals and appoint doctors.

Dr Jawaharlal, civil surgeon of the Mithi Civil Hospital, said the situation was not as alarming as reported in the media since the children had died because of different diseases and several of them were from others districts.

He said the hospital had an annual budget of Rs9.3 million for purchasing medicines and faced shortage of doctors.

The commissioner of Mirpurkhas division alleged that wheat provided by the Sindh government could not be distributed in remote villages because of lack of funds for transportation.Sindh Minister for Auqaf, Zakat and Ushr Dost Ali Rahimoon said 50 per cent of the posts of doctors in Thar hospitals had been vacant over a few decades. Except for the Mithi hospital, no hospital in the district has a lady doctor

MPA Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani called for upgrading the Mithi hospital which currently had only 74 beds.

Sindh Minister for Population Welfare Syed Ali Mardan Shah said three union councils in the desert area of Umerkot district were also facing drought and called for supply of wheat at subsidised rates there.

The chief minister also said half of Tharparkar had been hit by drought and the Sindh government had declared it a calamity-hit area.

The issue of shortage of medicines and doctors in the hospitals would be resolved on priority basis.

According to APP, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken notice of the situation in Thar and directed the National Disaster Management Authority to immediately get in touch with the provincial authorities and provide assistance.