DADU: Sindh Human Rights Commission chairman Iqbal Detho has expressed anger over Dadu district administration officers’ ignorance of actual facts and figures of the number of government buildings and houses damaged and families hit by the 2022 twin disaster of heavy rain and flood.

Mr Detho said at a meeting with Dadu Deputy Commissioner Fayyaz Hussain Rahujo, SSP Shabbir Ahmed Sethar and education officials at the DC office here on Wednesday that he wondered if no one from among the officers had written to the authorities concerned asking for constructing new buildings or repairing the damaged ones.

The DC tried to pass the buck to NGOs and said the buildings of schools and hospitals could not be built over one and a half years since the calamity hit the area because the NGOs which were assigned the task to furnish report on the damage after surveying the affected areas had failed to submit their reports till date.

The chairman inquired from him about the actual statistics on the damaged schools and students’ enrolment and attendance after the flood but the DC could not come up with a definite answer.

The education department’s officials, present in the meeting, also expressed ignorance saying they did not remember the statistics, leaving the chairman SHRC frustrated.

Mr Detho questioned the DC about his failure to provide houses to the flood victims even after passage an entire year and a half and he gave generic answers, drawing the ire of SHRC head.

He expressed displeasure over the officer’s reply and said he would not take any action against the district administration at present because of upcoming general elections but if the officers persisted with the same ignorance, he would take action against the administration during his visit after elections.

Earlier, Mr Detho visited district prison where he listened to inmates’ complaints and inspected arrangements.

He checked record of juvenile prisoners and inquired them about the facilities being provided to them in the jail.

He expressed his displeasure over the jail administration for not taking required steps to save the inmates from cold weather and directed the prison administration to prevent any violation of prisoners’ rights in the jail.

After the jail visit, the SHRC chairman visited civil hospital, where medical officer Dr Amjad Hussain Mastoi briefed him.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024