KARACHI, Oct 29: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Wednesday announced a package of Rs70 million for the relief of the earthquake victims in Balochistan.

Reacting over the losses of life and property in the earthquake, the chief minister directed the Sindh relief department to arrange an early supply of tents, blankets, food items and medicines to help the affected people.

The chief minister, who is scheduled to visit Balochistan on Thursday to asses the immediate needs of the victims, has also taken notice of reports of jolts in some districts of Sindh as well. He has directed the administration to take immediate precautionary measures in this regard. He has also asked the health secretary to declare a state of emergency in hospitals of Dadu, Jacobabad, Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts.

Earlier, Mr Shah also met Balochistan Chief Minister Muhammad Aslam Raisani and expressed his sorrow over the losses in his province.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad has also expressed his heart-felt sorrow and grief over the loss of life and property in Balochistan and directed the authorities concerned in the Sindh government to contact the Balochistan government to assess the needs of technical assistance there.

He directed the authorities to make arrangements for sending doctors and paramedical staff and medicines to the affected areas in Balochistan.

The governor appealed to philanthropists to demonstrate once again the spirit shown for the Oct 8, 2005 earthquake victims and donate generously for the relief of the earthquake victims.

Doctors’ help

Doctors in Karachi have started relief efforts for the affected areas.

An eight-member team of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) left for Quetta on Wednesday to help the earthquake-affected people. The team comprising surgeons, nephrologists, intensive care specialists and technicians will provide acute dialysis, surgical support and intensive-care management, under the leadership of SIUT Director Prof Adibul Hassan Rizvi.

In the past, such SIUT teams had worked in Abbottabad, Mansehra and Muzaffarabad after the Oct 8, 2005 earthquake in the NWFP and Azad Kashmir.

“An earthquake causes severe crush injuries due to muscle damage. This causes life threatening acute renal failure because of kidney blockage by muscle proteins. Dialysis support is life-saving for the victims of earthquake,” said a SIUT press release.

The SIUT team is equipped with dialysis machines, ventilators, operation theatre equipment and laboratory facilities.

General Secretary of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA central) Dr Habib-ur-Rehman Soomro and general secretary of the PMA Karachi Dr Samreena Hashmi said at a press conference that a team of rescue and medical volunteers organised by the PMA would leave with medicines, blankets and powdered milk for the quake-stricken areas late Wednesday night.

“The PMA will send more relief consignments to the quake-hit areas in the near future so philanthropists, the public, pharmaceutical companies and businessmen are requested to show generosity and donate blankets, tents, sugar, milk, medicines, bandages and cotton packs, antibiotic injections and painkillers at the PMA’s relief collection point set up at its headquarters on the Aga Khan-III Road, Karachi,” they said.

They said that PMA had already established two camps in Quetta and Ziarat with the support of local members of the PMA, and doctors and nursing staff from Karachi would also join volunteers there soon.