KARACHI: While more than half a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have been provided shelter in nearly 2,000 relief camps set up across the province by the Sindh government, fewer than 15,000 of them are housed in 38 government facilities temporarily established in six of the seven districts of Karachi, it emerged on Thursday.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon has put the number of displaced flood-hit people who took refuge in 1,175 relief camps across the province since Aug 20 at 581,010.

A few days ago, Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had informed a meeting of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) that so far 50,000 people from flood-hit areas of the province had arrived in Karachi and all of them “are staying in the camps set up by the Sindh government in Sachal Goth, and districts East, West and Keamari”.

However, on Thursday, the office of Karachi commissioner issued official statistics according to which the number of displaced people housed in government relief camps in the metropolis stands at 14,450 as of Aug 31.

When contacted, a PPP source told Dawn that Mr Ghani was referring to the total figure of the displaced people arrived in Karachi as a very large number of families preferred to stay with their relatives instead of staying at government’s relief camps for long. “The number [of flood-hit people reaching Karachi] is growing fast,” the source said.

No relief camp in district South

The district-wise data provided by the office of the Karachi commissioner stated that the government had set up total 38 camps in six of the seven districts of Karachi and South was the only district where no camp had been established.

of the total 14,550 flood-hit people, 14 camps established in Karachi district East housed the highest number of affected people i.e. 5,891, followed by 4,110 in eight camps at district Malir; 3,369 in six camps at district West; 730 in seven camps at district Keamari and 450 affected people in one relief camp at district Korangi.

Commissioner Iqbal Memon stated that two relief camps had been established in district Central but so far there was no flood-affected person.

He said that the IDPs were being provided water, food and medicines at these camps.

Govt committed to help flood-hit people: Sharjeel

Information Minister Sharjeel Memon said in a statement that the Sindh government was working hard to help flood-affected people and it had set up 1,175 relief camps in the affected districts of the province to house those who had lost everything.

“Till date, 581,010 affected people have been moved to these camps, where they are being provided with food, water, medicine and other facilities,” he said, adding that heavy rains had severely affected 235 taluqas and 1,051 union councils.

He said it was the priority of the government to ensure their early rehabilitation and all-out measures were being taken in this regard.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the district Malir chapter of the PPP was held on Thursday in which the overall situation with regard to the arrival of flood-affected people and arrangements being made for them came under discussion.

Chairing the meeting, Labour Minister Saeed Ghani, who is also the president of PPP’s Karachi chapter, asked party leadership as well as elected representatives to play their role and ensure all facilities for the displaced people.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2022