Tag Archives: Thatta

LEFT BANK OUTFALL DRAIN CARRYING TOXIC EFFLUENCE FROM PUNJAB TO SINDH – a massive wave of 20,000 cusecs of drain water is approaching

Evacuation ordered as new breaches in dykes add to woes

By Hashim Bhurgari, Qamaruddin and Iqbal Khwaja

SINDH – BADIN / MIRPURKHAS / THATTA: The Badin administration issued a warning to people of 12 union councils to vacate their homes and water gushing from breaches in canals and drains entered Mirpurkhas town and several villages in Thatta on Sunday as there appeared no end in sight to devastation caused by heaviest ever rainfall in the province’s history.

In Badin, unhindered upstream water flow continued to increase pressure on the embankments of the overtopping Left Bank Outfall Drain, forcing the administration to issue a warning to the people of 12 union councils, including Shadi Large, Khoski, Pangrio and Malkani Sharif towns, for evacuation. The warning was given after Saturday midnight through loudspeakers.

Thousands of marooned families along the LBOD and Doro Puran faced an acute shortage of food, drinking water and medicines.

According to unofficial reports, more than 30 people have died in the area, because of outbreak of gastroenteritis and other diseases.

A large number of villagers erected tents along roads and on dunes and many others are living in open areas. …

Read more → DAWN.COM

Land Ownership only For Women in Sindh (BBC)

SINDH GOVERNMENT’S GREEN POLICY : MAKING SINDH MORE GREEN AND PROSPEROUS

Here is BBC‘s news story of Ambar shamsi Land for Women in Sindh. Recently She visit Thatta Sajawal meet few land grantee women of Second phase of the Land Distribution regarding Land Grant policy of Sindh government.

Read more : BBC urdu

Folk artiste begs on Thatta streets

By Iqbal Khwaja

THATTA: The frail memory of music lovers had forgotten a voice once they cherished to the depth of their souls.

A sought-after singer now sings in same high-pitched voice but with a begging bowl. Though, her voice had not lost its charm but perhaps her age has.

Zeenat Shaikh, a renowned folk singer of yester-year can be seen loitering on Thatta streets with a faint hope of seeking alms. …

Read more : Dawn

Kalan Kot Fort Thatta…Another Historical Site of Archeological importance discovered near Thatta.

Kalan Kot Fort (urdu) كلاں كوٹ قلعه: Old name Tughlikabad تغلق آباد Kalan Kot was built probably in 14th century along with Thatta. Sámúí deserves notice from the attempt which has been made to establish it as the celebrated Minnagara of the ancient geographers. It was the capital of the Jáms of the Samma Dynasty, and, according to the Tuhfatu-l Kirám, it was founded by Jám Pániya,* under the Makli Hill, about three miles north-west of Thatta.

Subsequently, the fort of Tughlikábád was built by Jám Taghúr or Tughlik, on the site of the older Kalá-kot, about two miles south of Thatta; but that, as well as its predecessor, was left unfinished by its founder (p. 272). By a strange vicissitude, the name of Tughlikábád is now comparatively forgotten, and that of Kalá-kot erroneously called Kalán-kot (the great fort), though for a time superseded, has restored the just claims of Rájá Kalá, and still attracts the attention of the traveller. Lt. Burton calls it Kallián-kot. I fear to differ from so good a local authority, but believe Kalá-kot to be more strictly correct. …

Read more : INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

WSC asks all the Sindhi political and civil society organisations, technocrats, and intellectuals to rise above political differences, and to work together in order to help and lead people out of this flood disaster

SITUATION OF FLOODS IN SINDH AND WORK FOR THE RELIEF AND REHABILITATION OF SINDHI PEOPLE

London – The unprecedented floods in Sindh continue even after a month. Scandalously still new major towns and hundreds of villages continue being inundated resulting in displacement of hundreds of thousands more Sindhis, bringing further destruction of communities, livelihood, crops, homes and infrastructure.

WSC believes, that the current floods in Sindh and resulting unprecedented destruction is a concerted effort to direct the destructive powers of a natural phenomenon to eliminate and uproot a nation and subject them to a long-term process of slow genocide. These assertions are based on the following facts, inferences and analysis:

1. Sindh has been drowned resulting from literally hundreds of breaches to river waters in Kashmore, Jacobabad, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Larkana, Dadu and Thatta. There are serious questions, suspicions and concerns within Sindhi people, and now even the government circles, about the first major breach, Thori bund. This breach so far has resulted in displacement of about five million people, drowning of 4000 towns and villages, loss of trillions of worth property and crops and immeasurable pain, suffering and indeterminate consequences. The British authorities who built the Sukkur barrage recommended cutting river Indus from Ali Wahan if the water levels cross the threshold of barrage’s capacity. As the waters will then divert to the desert areas of Naro, Thar and eventually ending in sea taking historical routes of Hakro and Mehrano riverbeds. Off course, this also would have resulted in displacement but the population is sparse, sand has far greater ability to absorb water and people in such circumstances occupy high locations on sandy dunes. It is now emerging that the river Indus was cut at Thori to mainly to save Panoo Aaqil cantonment, Qadirpur gas installations and Fauji Fertiliser.

Continue reading WSC asks all the Sindhi political and civil society organisations, technocrats, and intellectuals to rise above political differences, and to work together in order to help and lead people out of this flood disaster

Punjab Govt. falsfully increased its losses by 331% in new report

Punjab’s losses increased 331pc in new FFC report

By Kalbe Ali

ISLAMABAD, Sept 5: A report of the Federal Flood Commission released on Sept 1 shows a surprising increase of 331 per cent in the number of flood-affected people in Punjab — rising to 8.20 million from 1.90 million mentioned in a report released in August.

Despite the big increase in the number of affected people, the number of affected villages and the acreage of affected area remain the same, 3,132 villages and 2.63 million acres.

The number of damaged houses is also the same in the August and September reports. Even the number of the injured and the dead is the same — 350 injured and 103 dead.

An official of the Ministry of Water and Power said the figures were compiled by the FFC after they had been released by the provinces.

A secondary survey undertaken in Punjab by the Board of Revenue is being directly monitored by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

According to sources in the BOR, reports suggest that the number of villages hit by the flood in Punjab is 2,100 compared to the initial estimate of 3,132.

The FFC’s estimates have been rejected by Sindh Minister for Culture Sassui Palejo, who is a member of flood monitoring committee formed by the Sindh chief minister.

She said concerns over FFC’s figures relating to Punjab had been highlighted at a meeting with Prime Minister Gilani and President Zaradari in Karachi on Sunday.

“We have rejected these estimates,” she said while talking to Dawn. “The situation is still very serious in Sindh as the receding water is posing threat to a number of areas.”

She said the number of displaced people in Thatta was increasing with each passing hour. …

Read more >> DAWN

“Rain made add up to the sufferings of the Bagri community”

by Jamil Hussain Junejo, Bin Qasim Town, Karachi

Such grave devastation through flood did not suffice desires of the nature. Probably, nature wants more.Therfore; it brought rain couple with medium level wind in District Thatta and Badin apart from other regions of Sindh on Wednesday. Most of the affectees staying under open sky and into fragile tents suffered a lot. The community which seemingly suffered more was Bagri community which was tentless because they were neglected by district authorities which like various sections of society consider them untouchables.” Nature did not discriminate in affecting the people but people discriminate in relief services” complained Bhooran, 32 years old mother of four children residing under open skey near society chock at Makli city of district Thatta.

Continue reading “Rain made add up to the sufferings of the Bagri community”

“Life doesn’t belong only to man”

by Jamil Hussain Junejo, Bin Qasim Town, Karachi

The society where man has to strive hard for the attainment of its basic rights, there people don’t even think of the rights of the animals. If in normal situation, animals are deprived of their rights, then it is very hard of think of the lives of the animals in any disaster.

At the time of inundation of Tando Hafiz town, Distrcit Thatta panic gripped the people who rushed to save their lives. But a local resident Khameeso Mallah preferred to save his dogs, while leaving his abode. In his understanding people would be rescued by boats standing there and nobody will come to rescue animals. It might be surprising for neighbourers that how he was taking risk of his live, saving dogs, but he did. He saved all the four dogs.

Continue reading “Life doesn’t belong only to man”

Sindhis Scramble to Escape Floods

Pakistanis Scramble to Escape Floods

By CARLOTTA GALL

THATTA, Pakistan — This town had already been evacuated because of the threat of flooding, but it filled up again on Saturday with tens of thousands of people fleeing floodwaters that had inundated surrounding districts and villages after the Indus River broke its embankments in several places.

Families camped in front of the courthouse, in a park, in an ancient cemetery, in schools, at intersections and on scrub land for miles on the edge of the town. There was no organization to it: people tied their cattle to bushes, rigged up awnings with colored cloth on sticks or tipped rope beds on their ends to create shade from the stifling heat of 104 degrees. Within hours thousands more people had swarmed into the town, many of them on foot. …

Read more >> The New York Times

Sindh – Evacuation of 4 million people from Thatto district while flood water is gushing into the area

Sijawal -Thatta : Nusrat Javed and Mustaq Minhaas, the reporters of Dunya TV are reporting that there is a breach in embankment of river near Sijawal and Bbano at Bbalo point in Thatto district and flood water is gushing into area from mighty Indus river (Sindhu river).  Approximately, 2 to 4 million people are rushing from the area towards higher grounds. Evacuation of citizens are continue….

Courtesy: Dunya TV

Via >> Zem TV

>> Link

Viva Scinde!

By Mohammad Ali Mahar, Austin, TX, USA

Captain Leopold Von Orlich, a Prussian Army officer visited India in 1842 (that is, about 164 years ago, and about a century before immigrants flocked from East to teach Sindhis ‘tehzeeb’ and convert beautiful Sindhi cities to slums and ruins — mahar). See what the European had to say about Sukkur:

“Sukkur and its environs have an exceedingly pleasing appearance and is, by far, the most beautiful of all the places of Sindh visited thus far, from Thatta to the border with the Punjab.”

After a few days stay in Sindh, Von Orlich, who might have visited other countries in the world too, concluded:

“In no country are the mornings and evenings so pleasant, or the sunsets so beautiful and sublime, as here (in Sindh)”

Viva Scinde!