ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party has accused the media of blowing out of proportion the issue of drought and famine in Sindh’s Tharparkar district which it says is not something unusual for the region.

Faqir Mohammad Shah, PPP legislator from the drought-hit district, and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Ahmed Shah claimed on Sunday that the situation in the area was “fully under control”.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Faqir said in a very casual manner that high number of death reported in his constituency was a “normal matter”. He then gave figures for the past three years and said that 469 children under five years of age had died -- 140 in 2010, 195 in 2011 and 134 in 2012 -- because of various diseases and lack of medical facilities in the area.

The death of 48 children in a little over two months this year, he said, was not something uncommon for the region. He claimed that no-one had died of hunger and most of the deaths had been caused by diseases. Asked why he had not raised the issue in the National Assembly which was in session till last week, the MNA said things were under control in his constituency when he left for Islamabad to attend the session.

He expressed complete ignorance when his attention was drawn to reports in the Sindhi media that Thar had been facing a famine-like situation for weeks. “I have not seen such reports,” he said.

Leader of Opposition Khurshid Shah expressed similar views: “The situation is not as serious as being portrayed in the media.”

He said wheat could not be distributed among the affected people because of financial constraints, but added that things were now under control after two visits by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah to the area. He said wheat stocks were there but could not be distributed because the provincial food department had not released money for the purpose.

The two PPP leaders gave different figures of death. According to Mr Faqir, 121 people, 48 children among them, died over the past few weeks, whereas Mr Shah said that he had been officially informed about 48 deaths.

“Such incidents take place every year and there is nothing new about it. There is a possibility that the number of death this year may be a little higher than in previous years, but things are under control now,” Mr Shah said.

But he said the death of even a single person due to official negligence was not acceptable.

M.B. Soomro, a journalist familiar with the region, rejected the PPP leaders’ claims and said the situation was worse than in previous years. “If the death of such a large number of people in a short span of time is not alarming for the ruling party in Sindh then one can only cry.”

He claimed that the Sindhi media had been reporting the fatalities in Thar for about a month, but the authorities remained unmoved and sprang into action only after the issue was highlighted by the national media.