BADIN, Dec 30: Rain and flood victims of the district are likely to suffer as the Sindh government has only postponed previous years’ dues, including land revenue, Ushr and Abyana, for one year and not written off the same.
A notification issued by the Sindh revenue secretary on Sept 30 but made public now, declared five talukas each of Badin and Thatta districts and some dehs of Mirpur Sakro, Mirpur Bathoro, Sujawal, Thatta, Diplo (entire) and Mithi taluka, Tharparkar, calamity-affected.
It said the Sindh government had postponed the recovery of all previous years’ government dues for one year in the areas.
The recent heavy rains and consequent floods had played havoc in coastal areas and rendered more than 200,000 people homeless.
The president, prime minister, Sindh chief minister and several ministers and political leaders visited the affected areas and assured the people of help and that they would be rehabilitated.
But despite the lapse of several months, a large number of victims are still awaiting compensation for their losses.
The affected people have been staging rallies, demanding that they should be provided with assistance.
Recently, Badin District Relief Committee chairman MPA Syed Ali Bux Shah announced to resign from the chairmanship in protest as he alleged that the Sindh government was not sincere in resolving the problems of the rain and flood victims of Badin and was avoiding to provide compensation to the people though ample amount was available in the relief account.
The announcements by the rulers to write off land revenue, Ushr water charges have been proved false claims.
Meanwhile, the director, Area Water Board, Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority, Nazeer Ahmad Mughal, directed sub-divisional officers and executive engineers of the irrigation department to start the recovery of water charges from growers from January.
The growers of the rain-hit areas have expressed their concern over the Sindh government attitude and said the recovery of land revenue and Abyana would badly hit the rain victims.
Ali Nawaz Memon of the Sindh Abadgar Board condemned the notification and said if the government did not revise its decision, they would take to the streets and resist the recovery.
Laar Abadgar Association president Abdul Jabbar Gopang demanded that the government should waive off the dues.
Syed Zafar Ali Shah of the Badin Growers’ Association criticized the Sindh government for its step-motherly attitude with the people of the district.
He demanded early compensation to the rain victims and writing off the dues.
The growers demanded a package for the people of Badin and Thatta districts.
POWER BREAKDOWNS: The people of the district continued to suffer on Tuesday because of power breakdowns for the last two days.
The power supply was disconnected early Monday morning and restored in the evening after 10 hours. It again was cut at 3am on Tuesday and restored at 5:30am. Later, electricity again went off for more than 10 hours.