UMERKOT, Sept 9: More than 200,000 rain victims who have taken shelter in government buildings and on sand dunes are waiting for relief goods and tents but there is no government functionary to take care of their needs.

The unabated heavy rains have flooded the entire district of Umerkot, caused thousands of houses to collapse, displaced 400,000 people and led to breaches in almost all canals, minrs and distributaries.

Most displaced people took shelter in government buildings or on high ground like roads, sand dunes, forts and banks of canals.

According to an estimate, more than 250,000 people are still living in the open and looking towards government for food, water, shelter, medicines.

Over 20,000 people were stranded in the villages of union councils Talhi, Nabisar road, Fazal Bhambhro and of them 3,000 have been rescued through boats but many are still missing.

Water level in Nara canal rose in the wake of continuous rains and water was released into old Dhoro in order to save Umerkot, Chhore and other areas.

As a result Dhoro developed four breaches and inundated more than 20 villages, including villages of Choudhry Shah Nawaz, Mithu Maher and Natha Singh.

Khalid Kumbhar, a social activist busy in rescue work in Kunri taluka, told Dawn that more than 100,000 people had taken shelter on sand dunes and banks of canals near Nohto and they were hungry.

Sources said that two men drowned near Haido village when they were trying to go across a flooded area with the help of an inflated tube but unfortunately the tube burst and both drowned. Another body was found near Kunri.

The rain victims who were migrating to safe places along with their livestock have to pay three times high fares because the government has not made any arrangements to shift them.

Officials of revenue, irrigation and roads departments are missing from the district.

Our Sanghar correspondent adds: Inhabitants of many villages have taken shelter in government schools in the wake of large scale destruction in Sanghar after heavy rainfall.

Over 75 per cent government schools have been converted into relief camps where rain hit people are facing acute shortage of relief goods.