DADU, Oct 5: Lack of basic facilities caused problems for devotees of Qalandar Lal Shahbaz on the second day of the saint's Urs on Tuesday.

Drainage, sanitation and drinking water supply systems in many parts of the Sehwan town, including Makrani Mohalla, Lal Bagh, main chowk, Shaikh Mohalla, Syed Juman Shah Mohalla, Solangi Mohalla, Pathan Kafee, Sewistan Fort, and taluka hospital area, have collapsed following recent rains. Rainwater has inundated roads in these areas and heaps of heaps of garbage are lying at different places.

The devotees are using water of the Manchhar Lake for drinking purpose. A devotee, Mohammad Akram Shaikh, said he and some other people had come from Lahore and had been living along railway track for two days. He complained that they had to purchase a 20 litres can of water for Rs10.

Another devotee living in Makrani Mohalla, Naseem Ahmad, said the administration had not constructed required number of toilets due to which devotees were facing hardships.

However, Mela Committee secretary Syed Qurban Shah said 200 sanitary workers had been deployed at different parts in the town. He said the Taluka Municipal Administration was supervising the sanitary staff.

Meanwhile, Malakhro was held at the Mela ground in Sehwan on Tuesday. A children's festival was also held at the Shahbaz Auditorium. Children belonging to different schools performed tableau and sang songs. Sindh information secretary Mehtab Akbar Rashidi was the chief guest on the occasion.

FINANCIAL ASSISATNACE: Sindh Culture and Tourism Minister Shabbir Ahmad Kaimkhani has said a committee, comprising Nisar Memon, Hameed Bhutto and Manzoor Qureshi, has been constituted to recommend financial assistance to ill and deserving poets, writers and artistes of Sindh.