KARACHI: Highlighting the relief efforts made for those who have suffered at the hands of floods triggered by monsoon rains, members of welfare organisations, social workers and individuals involved in humanitarian work in the affected areas painted a bleak picture of the situation on Friday evening.

Speaking at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club, Faisal Edhi of the Edhi Foundation said no province of Pakistan has been spared by the floods. The situation is extremely poor and it’s going to worsen. People’s participation, compared to the 2010 floods or when the 2005 earthquake hit the northern areas, in relief work isn’t sufficient, he said.

This is the reason that the speakers at the event, which was moderated by Zehra Khan, decided to appeal all organisations, including those who work under the UN, USAID, etc, to extend help.

Mr Edhi warned that if in this critical time those organisations leave us on our own, it will have global consequences.

Charity head says 90pc of flood-hit persons still await assistance; govt urged to immediately lift ban on INGOs

He said: “I fear that international migration from Pakistan will begin, the way it happened after the Syrian war. Three to four crore [30 to 40 million] people have been affected by monsoon rains and hundreds of thousands of houses have been destroyed.

“I was there for nine days, and despite a great deal of effort made by Edhi Foundation, the government and NGOs, we could only reach 10 per cent people, 90pc of them still await assistance. There are people who say that they don’t want to come to the streets with their children and only ask for food. Water has entered their houses,” he said.

He continued: “I have had a chat with my son who is at Khairpur Nathan Shah and wants to go to Meher where many are stranded. They are at a distance of 25 kilometres but we will have to move around 300kms to reach them because of the four- to five-foot stagnant water.

“Edibles are not available. Crops — rice, sugar, wheat and cotton — have been destroyed. Nothing is available to eat in Sindh and southern Punjab. The army is playing a great role in relief work. The government is also doing its bit. I’m happy that the government has distributed Rs25,000 among the affectees. But we would request them to speed up the process and the amount be raised.

“We would also like to request the government to immediately lift the ban on international NGOs for one year and allow them to work because in 2010 and 2005 international NGOs played an important part in relief and rehabilitation work,” said Mr Edhi.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Junior said he’d like to keep working with Edhi Foundation. His father, late Murtaza Bhutto, had also worked with them.

Call to allow imports from India

Economist Dr Kaiser Bengali said two floods have affected the area: first it came in the shape of rains, and then rainwater from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab has come to Sindh through rivers. The destruction of crops has two negative impacts. One, the farmers’ source of earning has finished. Two, if there’s no foodstuff in the market, then the customers won’t get any, and even if it’s available, it will be at high prices.

“The need of the hour is to import. We should import for one year — rice, sugar, onions, lentils, cotton. One part of the aid that the government is getting should be kept for these imports. There is a need to import from India because the advantage of importing from India is less transportation cost. People who will not die from the floods might die from starvation. And the spread of diseases once the water subsides will also be a huge problem,” said Dr Bengali.

At this point, Mr Edhi interjected saying there are reports of deaths of children and the elderly from every district.

Retired Justice Rasheed A Razvi said the government doesn’t have volunteers to work with. The medium of international NGOs has not been allowed to function. The Charities Act 2019 was passed in quick time in the Sindh Assembly, imposing a ban on the working of NGOs. This is the time for the government to lift the ban on dedicated NGOs.

Karamat Ali of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education & Research suggested that 10pc of the GDP should be directed toward relief work.

Nasir Mansoor of the National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) said the NDMA should be made pro-people.

Dr Mirza Ali Azhar of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) said the outbreak of diseases has already begun. There have been massive casualties which are not being reported. He also demanded that the process of receiving aid should be made transparent.

During the question-answer session, Mr Edhi said the government should curtail its expenditures. “There are certain organisations which are not treating the minorities well. We have received complaints. The government must also check such NGOs. We are already a divided country, we can’t afford further divisions.”

Mr Bhutto reiterated the resolve to work with Faisal Edhi. “A revolution in our country is about to come. People are angry. They are fed up with the feudal system. They don’t want feudalism. We need radical reforms but our politicians do not give us radical reforms because we’ve spent the last 75 years dancing between feudalism and capitalism. Yes, in terms of the land that we [his family] have, almost all of it has been submerged. The houses of our haris have also been destroyed. Of course we are always there for the people. We are doing our best to help.”

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2022