MITHI, Oct 9: Thousands of internally-displaced families living in relief camps or on sand dunes in Thar near Naukot and Kaloi have urged the government and relief agencies to immediately provide tents, food, water and healthcare facilities to the affected people.

They also called for a comprehensive survey of losses caused by recent rains and flood.

While travelling on the Mithi-Vango, Kaloi-Naukot, Naukot-Mithi roads and some link roads and during recent visits to Kaloi, Naukot and some villages and relief camps, this correspondent saw the entire road network destroyed by rains and portions of the Mithi-Vango road washed away at several places.

Scores of villages in the irrigated areas of Kaloi, Bitaro and union councils of Diplo taluka have been cut off from Kaloi, Naukot, Mithi, Badin and other areas.

The district administration has failed to drain out water from the Santoro Farm area of Naukot town.

Its wholesale market of around 300 shops remains closed.

Coaches, buses and trucks cannot use the Naukot road to reach Mithi from Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Badin, Karachi or other places. Vehicles are coming to Mithi via Umerkot and Chelhar, which is causing delay in transportation of relief items and other goods.

Commuters have to use tractor trolleys or donkey carts to cross the half kilometre of submerged area of Santoro Farm.

The authorities have failed to drain out water from the Naukot grid station and power supply to pumping stations for supply of canal water to Mithi remains suspended.

The level of water in the Left Bank Outfall Drain, Dhoro Puran and Mehrand Lake near Kaloi continues to be high. Scores of villages around Kaloi, Naukot, Fazal Bhambhro, Nabisar, Talhi, Nafis Nagar, Samaro, Kunri, Jhuddo, Tando Jan Mohammad, Digri, Kot Ghulam Mohammad, Umerkot, Badin and other areas are still submerged in rain and flood water.

Almost all the mud houses in these areas have been destroyed, cattle have perished and crops of cotton, sugarcane and vegetables have been damaged.

A large number of displaced families is living on the sand dunes of Thar near Kaloi and Naukot or in the poorly-managed relief camps. They are short of food and water and suffering from various diseases.

Hundreds of flood-affected people of various villages of Naukot and Kaloi areas are living along the Kaloi-Naukot road with their livestock.

Talking to this correspondent in Kaloi, Gomando, Rano, Piro and other haris alleged that landowners were not doing anything to help them in their struggle for survival. They said they had received inadequate ration from an NGO a couple of days ago.

“Our Togachi Samo village was submerged at night and we had to abandon it. About 400 families are now living on the road.

We got only 40 tents but no relief from the government or any NGO,” said Ayoub, Abdul Majid, Suleman and others.

Displaced residents of Ayoub Halo village, now living in relief camps set up in two schools in Kaloi, made similar complaints.

They said the camp was dirty and there were no toilets.

They are suffering from malaria, diarrhoea, gastroenteritis and skin disease.

Ms Hiru, Chibhar Bheel and others living in a relief camp near Naukot fort alleged mismanagement, misappropriation and non-transparency in distribution of relief goods.Meanwhile, Mohammad Khan Loond, finance secretary of the PPP’s Tharparkar chapter, Ali Murad Loond, president of the PPP’s Bolhari union council chapter, and Mohammad Qasim Loond, former nazim of Kaloi UC,said that the district administration and other authorities had ignored the rain-affected areas of Diplo taluka.

But district revenue officer Imran Bhatti claimed that the relief operation was going on smoothly and a large number of people living in relief camps or scattered in different places were getting adequate help.

He said that the district administration had distributed 15,259 out of the 18,635 tents it had received. Similarly, it had received 106,934 ration bags and so far distributed 73,102 and the process was continuing.