KARACHI: The Sindh government on Thursday shrugged off opposition criticism over failure to bring succour to drought-ravaged Thar, which was seen as the major culprit behind recurring deaths of babies and continual rise in infant mortality rate.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and senior ministers of his cabinet took turns at Sindh Assembly to portray a rosy picture of the arid region which had lately seen a tragic rise in newborn babies’ deaths and half hearted government efforts to save lives.

The ministers quoted figures compiled by government agencies and Unicef and termed the opposition claims exaggerated. A Unicef representative remarked after a visit to Thar that malnutrition was a serious challenge and joint efforts were required to reduce mortality rate from 176 per 1,000 births to 50 per cent, they said.

They claimed that number of children’s deaths had come down already as a result of government measures and there was no epidemic among livestock.

The chief minister wrapped up the discussion and said the PPP government had changed the face of Thar where foreign companies from China and US were investing $4.5 billion and now Thar was being discussed in Washington as well.

Mr Shah said that he was not trying to justify children’s deaths. “We are in consultation with national and international health experts to overcome the situation,” he said.

In response to Leader of Opposition Khwaja Izharul Hasan’s speech, Mr Shah said that criticism for the sake of criticism was not good as Thar could not be turned into a paradise within a few years.

Earlier, Khwaja Izhar termed the government measures insufficient and said he did not see any change in Thar over the past four years.

He blamed flawed policies of the government for hundreds of deaths of children and livestock, which indicated that funds were not being used properly.

Sindh Health Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar accused media of exaggerating the Thar situation and urged it to highlight only facts.

Senior Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who had tabled the resolution on Thar situation, portrayed a rosy picture of the desert area and said that Thar was lately witnessing huge development.

Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that seven small dams had been built in Thar and work on 12 others was in progress. Syed Sardar Ahamd of MQM said that there was no shortage of funds ad blamed ad hocism for the problems.

Nand Kumar, Jam Madad Ali of PML-F, PPP’s Dr Sikander Mendhro, Jam Khan Shoro, Ali Mradan Shah, Murad Ali Shah, MQM’s Heer Soho, Sabir Qaimkhani and PTI’s Dr Seema Zia also spoke on Thar. Before adjourning the session to Feb 12 the chair allowed MQM’s Heer Soho to table her resolution out of turn on the World Cancer Day which was read out by Nusrat Sultana of PPP and Nusrat Sahar Abbasi of PML-F. When the resolution was put to the house, it was passed unanimously.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2016