June 24, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1429

QUETTA, June 23: Almost a year has passed since floods inundated three tehsils in Makran around the Mirani Dam, but the government has not carried out a survey to determine the extent of losses.

The flood inflicted property losses running into millions of rupees and dislocated several hundreds of families.

Thousands of displaced flood victims are still living in tents while others have been forced to live in the open after their houses were washed away in the heavy flood that affected the Turbat district.

“Three tehsils — Nasirabad, Nodz and Kalato — in Turbat district were completely destroyed around the Mirani Dam area by the flood,” Akram Baloch, a former Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, said.

He said that the Mirani dam affectees had still not received any compensation.

“The federal government is required to authorise the provincial government to carry out the survey,” a meeting of the steering committee on Mirani dam had decided.

As a threat of possible floods loom large, the committee met recently to explore the possibility of paying compensation to people dislocated by the collapse of 15,000 houses and damage caused to crops and orchards.

The meeting, presided over by the chief economist of the Planning and Development Department, recommended an early release of Rs520 million for payment of compensation to people affected by the flood.