KARACHI: Hundreds of people displaced by the 2011 floods from various districts of Sindh and residing near New Sabzi Mandi on Tuesday agreed to inoculate their children against polio after the authorities accepted their demand for a school in the area, officials said.

“We have assured them of building a school near their residential area as per their demand,” said Asif Jan Siddiqui, deputy commissioner of Karachi East, while speaking to Dawn.

These IDPs have been residing on disputed land facing the New Sabzi Mandi since their arrival here after the floods had ravaged their lands and deprived them of their livelihoods.

“They want their children to get education as they have been deprived of schooling facility for the past many years. They have agreed to our offer to establish a school in a nearby locality, as the place they are staying on is disputed land,” said Mr Siddiqui.

“This way all the children living there have duly been inoculated against polio.”

The IDPs, who number in hundreds, in the area had refused to vaccinate their children as their demand for a school had not been heard for the past six years, said a home department official.

Published in Dawn January 18th, 2017