KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet on Monday decided to give Rs300,000 compensation for each completely destroyed and Rs50,000 against every partially damaged house to help flood-affected families get rebuild/repair them.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Sindh government’s Spokeman Barrister Murtaza Wahab and Food Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that the relief package would be rolled out through banks from Nov 30 in a transparent manner.

They said that decision to give cash assistance to the victims was taken with view to enable them to rebuild their houses as per their choice.

Barrister Wahab said that the cabinet discussed a proposal for the construction of 1.8 million houses and directed Khalid Shaikh, the CEO of a newly-established housing company, to firm up the proposal by finalising the design of the houses keeping in view climate change and mode of construction so that it could be approved.

Compensation for partially damaged houses fixed at Rs50,000

Mr Chawal said that the cabinet also decided to give Rs5,000 per acre to farmers for purchasing wheat seeds and ensure procurement of 30 per cent of their crop by the provincial government.

Moot to discuss flood destruction

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, chairing the cabinet meeting, decided to convene a two-day international conference to discuss the destruction caused by floods in the province and explore technical ways to reconstruct the irrigation and draining system so that future calamities impact could be mitigated.

Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro told the cabinet that Sindh witnessed extreme rainfall on Khirthar Range resulting in massive flooding in the province. He said that previously, a disaster occurred during the riverine flood of 2010 in which a breach occurred at Tori Bund on the right bank of the Indus. He added that the area inundated during the 2010 flood was about 1.3 million acres and the quantum of water was about 4.9 MAF. Whereas, during recent flooding on the right bank of Indus, an area of around 2.2 million acres was inundated with approximately 14 MAF quantum of water. Similarly, the heaviest rainfall on the left bank of the Indus inundated an area of around 1.4m acres with 8 MAF quantum. “The total quantum of rainwater along the right and left banks collectively becomes about 22 MAF, which is almost four times the volume of Tarbela reservoir,” Mr Shoro pointed out.

Draining of floodwaters

The cabinet was told that on Aug 31, 2022, an area of over 1.9m acres was under inundation along the right bank and the estimated volume of water was approximately 14 MAF. About 70pc quantum of the water has been drained out from the right bank. By the end of Dec 2022, the entire area would be cleared.

Rehabilitation work

The rehabilitation department told the cabinet that so far 673,867 tents, 545,012 tarpaulins, 3.4 million mosquito nets, 1.995 million ration bags, 807,057 liters of drinking water and 178,980 blankets had been distributed among flood-affected people. The items have been distributed by PDMA, NDMA, Pakistan Navy and Air Force, and various organisations.

Stipend for doctors

Health Secretary Zulfiqar Shah told the cabinet that the Federal Ministry of National Health Services had enhanced the postgraduate stipend from Rs73,000 to Rs104,390 per month and the house officers’ stipend from Rs40,000 to Rs69,600 per month.

The cabinet discussed and approved the proposal of the health department to make it at a par with the stipends of the Federal Ministry of National Health Science.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2022