50,000 flood affectees arrive in Karachi, housed in relief camps

• 50,000 Sindh flood affectees reach Karachi.
• Tens of thousands more flood affectees may arrive in provincial capital.
• Exact number of people affected by province's rains and floods is still not known.

Around 50,000 Sindh residents who were displaced due to heavy rains and floods have arrived in Karachi and are being housed at various relief camps, according to Labour and Human Resources Minister Saeed Ghani.

Tens of thousands more flood affectees may arrive in the provincial capital in the coming days, Ghani said at a meeting he presided over as president of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Karachi chapter.

The minister stated that no exercise has yet been conducted to determine the exact number of people affected by the province's rains and floods. He estimated that the number of flood victims could number in the millions. He emphasised that the people who left their homes to travel to Karachi did so voluntarily.

He also pointed out during the meeting that the PPP’s Karachi chapter has set up more than 65 relief camps to help the people affected by floods, The News reported. PPP Sindh General Secretary Waqar Mehdi told the meeting that medical teams will be stationed at every relief camp for treating the ailing or injured victims of floods.

Mehdi said the camps established by the PPP are not accepting cash donations, adding that all monetary contributions by the public are to be deposited in the bank account of the provincial government’s flood relief fund.

He said the PPP will ensure strict supervision of the development works to be carried out across the city for repairing the roads damaged during the monsoon rains. Sindh Women Development Minister Shehla Raza said that special arrangements have to be made for the food and nutritional needs of the displaced children. Shehla said the provincial government has been taking care of the special health needs of the women and children among the affected people.

PPP Karachi General Secretary Jawed Nagori said that proper data on the flood victims arriving in different districts of the city needs to be collected. Nagori said the people who have been rendered homeless due to floods and want to reach Karachi for temporary shelter should be given maximum facilitation.

Sindh Social Welfare Minister Sajid Jokhio said that 25,000 flood-affected people have reached District Malir of Karachi, adding that the district has been receiving 3,000 to 4,000 victims on a daily basis.

Jokhio suggested establishing a tent city near the Northern Bypass for designating a central location for housing the flood victims instead of housing them at different camps. He said the proposed tent city should have the best medical treatment facilities.

The meeting also adopted a resolution to condemn the alleged audio clip of a conversation between PTI Senator Shaukat Tareen and the Punjab finance minister, observing that its contents are against the interests of the country. The resolution called upon the federal government to invoke Article 6 of the constitution for taking lawful action against the PTI leaders who have made remarks against the interests of Pakistan.