UMERKOT: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Arbab Ghulam Rahim has lashed out at Pakistan Peoples Party government for its failure to respond adequately to post-rain and flood situation in the province and regretted that the ruling party has turned the disaster into a new source of money making.

People had been flooded with ulterior motives to show widespread devastation, pain and suffering to secretary-general of the United Nations to maximize aid and loans from the world community, said Dr Rahim at a press conference at a party leader’s residence here on Wednesday.

Flanked by former MNA Lal Malhi, he said that funds meant for the disaster were easy to swallow because there was no accountability of such money. Though entire Sindh had suffered in the torrential rains and flood but Mirpurkhas division had been the worst hit because of shabby and almost non-existent drainage system, he said.

He said the water lifting machines, which were supposed to drain out stagnant rainwater from all flooded areas, were used like water cannons to deliberately flood only the poor.

The water found no path to flow to Shakoor Lake as influential people had encroached upon all natural drains after obtaining the areas on lease and people had built bungalows and developed farms there, he said.

Dr Rahim said that Sindh being lower riparian entire water of the country flowed down to the province. The government needed to take special measures for draining out the huge water to the sea. Flawed saline water drain, LBOD, which was manmade, had proved highly damaging for Mirpurkhas division and Badin district, he said.

He said that the RBOD, which had been closed during his tenure, could take water from Jhal Magsi to Manchhar Lake but it too had flaws. If PPP leader Malik Asad had not obstructed the drain at Kotri upper Sindh could have been saved, he claimed.

He said the calamity had adversely hit growers who had lost all their crops, loans and farm inputs and in return they were being handed out one plate of cooked rice. Provision of ration bags was not a solution as the province needed an adequate drainage system to save it from similar calamities in future, he said.

He suggested to the government to pay compensation to people who lived on the drains’ land and persuade them to evacuate the area to help rainwater flow smoothly to its destination.

He said that he and his people were ready to help the government in this regard if it made better planning for averting future disasters.

Dr Rahim called the Transgender Protection Bill 2018, part of a foreign conspiracy and said that regime change had been made to introduce such licenses of immorality in the country. Internet was spreading nudity and harming children’ he said.

He said that election would have to be held and they could not stop it. Bakre ki maa kab tak khair manaegi, he said, adding people of Sindh had been trapped between the devil and the deep sea and they could not decide with whom they should stand.

He said that Ishaq Dar had been brought back under a deal and his arrival showed there was a tussle going on between Noon and Sheen factions of PML. Dar was an absconder who had escaped in prime minister’s plane and had come back on the same plane, he said, adding that some persons in the coalition government were not happy at Dar’s arrival.

He said that Imran Khan had never spoken against the country. He had exposed the individuals and the institutions that had put the country at stake. Imran was struggling for free, fair and transparent elections, he said.

He said in answer to a question that even the country’s prime minister house was not safe under PML-N and leakage of calls and audios had made a mockery of the country.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2022