HYDERABAD, Sept 9: Rainwater accumulated in units No-2 and 11 of Latifabad and parts of the Qasimabad taluka started stinking on Saturday.

People are still marooned in these areas and facing shortage of food and drinking water. They have suffered of millions of rupees due to damage to their belongings.

The situation has exposed working capacity of the district government and its contingency plan. The Hyderabad Development Authority has run short of pumping machines and pipes for draining out rainwater and reports say new pumping machines are being purchased.

The Hyderabad district government sought machinery from the Karachi city district government on Friday, but the equipment is yet to be made available.

However, Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) Director-General Tahir Ahmed said a window was being created near Phulelli canal for disposal of stagnent water accumulating since Thursday, through disposal system of Wasa.

In Latifabad units No-2 and 11, Sheedi Goth and Waqar town in Qasimabad, army personnel were evacuating people through boats. The army provided breakfast to around 1,000 people while the city government sent food to the rain victims staying in the relief camp set up in a public school. Around 500 persons, including minor children and women, are staying in the relief camp.

People of the area were supplementing their efforts during rescue operation which continued till 2am and resumed at 6 am on Saturday.

Residents of Unit No-2 said the level of accumulated water was increasing because the sewage disposal system of the unit had failed to function.

The situation, they said, was aggravating because sewage of units no-6, 11 and 9 was accumulating in their unit having a population of around 25,000 people.

Garbage and sewage, mixed in the stagnant rainwater in the units, is spreading stench and becoming a threat to an outbreak of water-borne diseases.

Until Friday people were not ready to leave their houses, but after they started running out of food and drinking water, they decided to leave the area. Only women and minor children are being evacuated through boats while adults are wading through shoulder-deep water.

Several main arteries in Latifabad are almost impassable for the traffic and only a heavy vehicle could pass through it. Sabzi Mandi remained closed and fruit and vegetables were sold on the Gharib Nawaz bridge. Around two-three feet of water is standing in Gulshan-i-Hali, Nusrat colony.

In units No-11 Latifabad, the three relief camps set-up are in the government girls high school, government elementary school and the third is near a marriage hall.

According to Taluka Municipal Officer (TMO) Majeed Rajput, around 600-700 persons were staying there. Boats were evacuating people, but some families had refused to shift to the relief camps.

Meanwhile, people of Doomra Goth blocked Wadhu Wah against the delay in draining out of rainwater. Around 400 persons are staying in the relief camp set-up in Mehran school Qasimabad Phase-II.

According to UC nazims Mehboob Abro and Yamin Soomro, pipes and pumping machines are not available for draining out water. Five boats were operating in Shoro and Sheedi villages to evacuate people, Mr Abro said. When he talked to the DCO Hyderabad for availability of pumping machines, the DCO told him the machinery was being purchased, the nazim said.

RS30M Funds released: According to an official handout issued in Karachi on Saturday night, a sum of Rs30 million have been released to the relief commissioner’s fund on the direction of the adviser to the Sindh chief minister on finance, M. A. Jalil, to start relief work in rain-affected Hyderabad, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar.