December 25, 2006	Monday	Zilhaj 03, 1427

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DERA GHAZI KHAN, Dec 24: Heirs of the Jhoke Uttra incident are still hoping against the hope for their appropriate rehabilitation by the district government. At least 19 people, 11 women and eight children, had lost their lives on Saturday last in a stampede following a tent fire due to short-circuit during the henna ceremony of groom Abdul Hayee.

Neither representatives of the district government nor the ministers, who came to Jhoke Uttra for condolences, have done anything for the rehabilitation of survivors.

The area people, including Rana Sajjad, Faiz Joiya, Ayaz Ahmed, Shakeel, Shahid, Manzoor Ahmed and Abdul Hameed, underscore the need for the establishment of community centers at the union council level for holding functions to stem the recurrence of such incidents in future.

Zeeshan Faisal, a jobless electrical engineer, who lost his mother Zareena Bibi and grandmother Kundan Mai in the tragic incident, is now uncertain about continuing the education of his two sisters and a brother. He said the incident had left them without their financier.

He termed insufficient and discourteous the Rs50,000 compensation money announced by the provincial government for the heirs of each victim. His immediate requirement was a suitable job for the livelihood and educational expenditures of his dependents, he said.

One Raheem Bakhsh said the government had awarded a cricketer with Rs5 million, but a meagre amount of compensation had been announced for families of victims.

It may be mentioned that over 40 people, including women and children of the Lashari family, were killed in a hill torrent incident in Zinda Pir some two years back.

Similarly, around 10 people had lost their lives due to gastroenteritis in DG Khan last summer, while two persons were killed in a bomb blast in Bakar Mandi during the current year.

However, families of victims are still awaiting the compensation money announced by the government.