HYDERABAD: Dutch water and environmental expert Ele Jan Saaf and Holland embassy representative Yasir Farooqi have offered to enhance capacity of the institutions in Pakistan in the wake of large-scale devastation caused by heavy rains and floods so that such natural disasters could be faced adequately in future. They said the recent floods had affected the country in general and Sindh in particular. The calamity rendered millions of people homeless, destroyed standing crops on millions of acres and perished livestock, they said, adding that they also wanted to know the causes of the large-scale devastation.

They were speaking to officers of the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority here on Thursday. Briefing the guests, Sida Managing Director Pritam Das said Sindh was badly affected by the recent rains and floods.

He said the areas in Nara canal command were affected and where there was no drainage system in the areas of Chotiyari and Tando Mitha Khan, water kept accumulating. He said that administration faced serious issues in the disposal of rainwater.

He said that increasing population and nonexistent drainage system were also counted among the reasons for that flooding. GM operation Jai Ram said that rainwater was drained out from the areas of Ghotki and left bank area water boards. He said that only those areas were facing inundation where natural waterways were brought under cultivation of crops.

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2022