Saturday, August 7, 2010

Flood-hit Shabara village one of the worst affected

CHARSADDA: Sadness was writ large on the faces of inhabitants of Shabara village in Charsadda district as rubble of mud-houses, destroyed crops and hundreds of livestock carcasses gave the picture of devastation and destruction caused by the recent floods.

Nine days after the floods, hundreds of rotting carcasses were lying in the fields and posing a serious threat to public health. The village, one of the worst affected in Charsadda, wore a deserted look and a few men were busy in removing mud from their homes.

“All the people have left the village and have shifted to nearby relief camps or to their relatives’ homes. We cannot bring our families back as hundreds of the dead animals are spread everywhere and we fear our children will contract diseases,” said Akhtar Ali, a villager in Shabara.

The stench of the carcasses was intolerable and it was difficult to stay there. The carcasses of goats, sheep, buffaloes, cows and dogs were lying all around waiting to be disposed off. The villagers have experienced the vagaries of nature earlier. “Every year we are faced with floods but the damage was not as severe as this time,” said Akhtar Ali who lost seven cattle in the floods. He said the disastrous flood had destroyed standing crops in the village, leaving farmers wondering how they would sustain in the months to come.

Pointing towards a carcass lying in mud, Fazal Ghafoor, an elderly man said: “I have lost eleven cattle including cow, buffaloes and sheep. I lost everything.”

“Our maize and sugarcane crops have been ruined. People have been left with nothing,” he said, adding that the authorities and the elected representatives did not pay a single visit to the village.

They were critical of their elected representatives from the ruling Awami National Party (ANP). They recalled the assistance provided to them by Pakistan People’s Party-Sherpao leader and a former member of the provincial assembly, Alamzeb Umarzai, who was recently assassinated.

“On the day of floods all the people were remembering Alamzeb who stood with us during previous floods and monitored the rescue and relief activities,” said another villager Asad.

Sher Ali, a social worker from the nearby Miangan village who had come to distribute rice among the villagers, said the people were in dire need of food and drinking water and they wanted the government to remove the carcasses.

Trekking through the muddy swamps barefooted, Hussain Shah along with his sons aged three and eight told this scribe that he had shifted to his relatives’ home as his home had been destroyed. “I have decided to shift from this village as I lost everything. I do not want to live here anymore,” he said.

Ali Hassan, a farmer, was busy removing mud from his home. His four brothers were also helping him in washing their daily use items. Pointing towards a refrigerator, he said: “Look at the mud on it. For the last three days we are trying to clean our home but still a lot needs to be done.” Showing the cracked walls of his rooms, he said how they could live in this house.

The villagers asked the government to provide them tents so that they could shift their families to the village and also make immediate arrangements for removal of carcasses from the village.

When contacted, Shakeel Bashir Umarzai, the provincial assembly member from the area, said he was aware of the situation and the provincial and the district governments were trying hard to help the affected people.

He said Shabara village was one of the worst affected, adding that he had distributed 180 tents in the village which certainly were not sufficient for its large population.

The lawmaker, belonging to the ruling ANP, said he had received 2,400 tents for his entire constituency and only Shabara village needed more than 2,000 tents. “We have discussed the disposal of the carcasses with the district coordination officer and officials of C&W Department and removal of the dead animals will start soon,” he said.

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