KARACHI, April 14: The Sindh Assembly was on Wednesday informed that legal heirs of 277 people, who were among 317 lost their lives in the devastating rains during June-July 2003 in Sindh , have been paid compensation. The recipients included 48 claimants from Karachi.
Relief Minister Altaf Hussain Unnar gave this information to the house while replying to a question by Ms Sharfun Nisa who wanted to know the details of damage inflicted by the rains and also the relief provided to the affected people.
The minister said the government had on Aug 11, 2003 notified the formation of district relief committees headed by ministers/advisers/MPAs or representatives of the armed forces. According to their survey reports, he added, 165 people had died in Hyderabad, Thatta, Tharparkar and Badin districts, the break up being 16, 39, 24 and 86, respectively.
In these four districts, the minister said, total number of kutcha/pucca houses damaged in the rains was 17,4925 - Hyderabad 25,090, Thatta 28,246, Tharparkar 20,732 and Badin 10,0857. He put the loss of cattle as recorded at 2,290. Hyderabad suffered five, Thatta 100 and Tharparkar 2,185 cattleheads.
No loss of crop was reported from any of the four districts, he added. The minister said that the government had also placed a total of Rs178.25 million as relief funds at the disposal of 14 District Coordination Officers (DCOs) under the heads of compensation for death, distribution of free food and medicines, establishment of relief camps, transportation, evacuation of the marooned people, and compensation for totally destroyed houses.
He informed the house that out of the 317 death cases, only 40 were pending with regard to the payment of compensation to the legal heirs. He said that among the pending cases, 34 pertained to Dadu, four to Shikarpur, and the remaining two to Tharparkar.
Giving a district-wise break up of the 317 deaths, he said that Karachi suffered 46, Hyderabad 16, Dadu 34, Badin 86, Thatta 39, Nawabshah 17, Khairpur eight, Naushahro Feroz nine, Sanghar eight, Mirpurkhas nine, Tharparkar 24, Larkana 17, and Shikarpur four casualties.
He said that the provincial relief committee, which met on Jan 21, 2004, had decided that in the first phase, the compensation for totally damaged houses would be paid within three months in Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar and Hyderabad districts.
In reply to a question by M. Nawab Ali Wassan, the minister said that Khairpur district had not been declared as calamity-affected area for want of the requisite recommendation from the district government.
However, he said, the district relief committee had reported that eight persons had been killed there in rain-related incidents. Eight pucca and 114 kutcha houses were fully damaged while 33 pucca and 4,133 kutcha houses had sustained partial damage in the district, he added.
Regarding crops, he told the house that 30 per cent of cotton and 80 per cent Jwar crop, besides date palm garden had been damaged. The question, which was not answered was asked by Ms Heer Ismail Soho who had sought details about location and quantity of coal found in Thatta district. She also wanted to know about development work and amenities provided to the local people.