KARACHI, Aug 24 Many villages of fishermen in Keamari Town lack basic civic amenities and are facing numerous problems, a survey conducted by Dawn shows.

Situated by the Arabian Sea, these villages have been neglected for years by civic agencies concerned.

Haji Daraya Khan Goth, Moosa Goth, Haji Faizo Goth, Haji Juma Goth, Pub Faqir Goth, Manjar Goth, Sukkur Goth and Mubarak Village of Deh Mann are some of these neglected villages which have been there from centuries.

Talking to Dawn, local villagers identified the absence of running water, electricity, health care and educational facilities as the most urgent problems that need immediate attention of the authorities concerned.

The survey showed that a vast majority of villagers were living in abject poverty and nearly 95 per cent of the population depended on small-scale fishing.

The local fishermen complained that they were facing a lot of problems, especially in unloading fish from their boats because there was no facility of a jetty in their area.

Most of these fishermen are dependent on small boats which are built in a traditional style.

These boats are unable to sail in stormy weather and when there is a strong current in the sea.

As a result of that, the fishermen had to suspend their activities, sometimes as long as for four months, the local fishermen said.

Since they had no alternative means of income, they had to borrow money from moneylenders to support their families, they said.

Mostly, these fishermen transport their catch to the Karachi Fish Harbour for auction and usually end up selling their catch to middleman at cheap prices.

There are some 40 large boats in Mubarak Village which travel up to Gwadar and Pasni and there are some 100 small boats on which these fishermen's livelihood depends.

Talking to Dawn, the fishermen demanded immediate construction of a small jetty at Mubarak Village.

They said that despite the fact that huge power plants like Hubco and the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (Kanupp) were located in the vicinity of their villages, most of the villages were still without electricity.

They urged the government to order the Karachi Electric Supply Company to take immediate steps to supply electricity to these villages near Hawkesbay through an arrangement with Hubco which is located in the nearby area.

They also complained that the availability of potable water was the most pressing problem for them.

At present water is being supplied to these villages through tankers by the Union Council of Gabopat and the public health engineering department.

However, the supply, the villagers said, was irregular and insufficient.

A majority of the people were still dependent on subsoil water, they said.

In a number of villages, women and children had to walk long distances to fetch water from small ponds. This water was usually contaminated and unfit for drinking, they added.

The villagers urged that a water supply scheme should be launched by connecting their villages with the water distribution system of the Hub dam.

They said that before the construction of the Hub dam, Hub River water used to fall directly into the sea, enabling prawns to thrive.

But now, they said, since freshwater was only available during rains, the production of this precious export item had also dwindled away.

Villagers from Moosa Goth, Haji Faizu Goth, Haji Juma Goth and Sukku Goth also complained about the lack of healthcare facilities and urged the government to construct maternity clinics in these villages.

Fishermen of Mubarak Village said that although a year had passed since a dispensary was set up in their village it had yet to start its function.

The project was completed by the Public Works Department and was handed over to the health department of Sindh, but no step was taken to appoint medical staff to make the dispensary functional, they said.

They demanded that the government pay attention to their problems and provide them with basic civic amenities.