PESHAWAR, July 29: An year after the flashfloods caused extensive damage in Mohib Banda in Nowshera the people of this area still await any substantial help from the government as they say that they have been deliberately kept deprived of the Watan Cards. They have also demanded an impartial inquiry into the Watan cards distribution.

“Mohib Banda was one of the areas most affected by floods, but its inhabitants had been victimised by a provincial minister, who facilitated giving cards to people in several other areas like Kaka Sahib which were not hit by floods,” said Faiz Ahmad, a former nazim of Mohib Banda Union Council at a function organised here to mark the first anniversary of the flash-floods. Other speakers said that most of the houses and other structures in Mohib Banda village, situated on the right bank of Kabul River, were destroyed when flashfloods hit the village on July 29, 2010.

The local representatives organised the function to thank the organisations that provided support to the residents in their time of distress.

“It is because of these organisations that we are sitting together. They have done great efforts in restoration of health, agriculture, education and sanitation facilities,” said Mr Ahmad.

He regretted that the sitting ministers had ignored a large number of the flood-hit people in Mohib Banda while distributing Watan Cards. He added that the government had been paying Rs2,400 per person for agriculture land levelling, but even in that case the deserving people were ignored.

Kifayat Ali, another resident of Mohib Banda, recalled that when their village was inundated by 8-10 feet water the residents of the nearby Amankot village had come to their rescue and managed to shift women, children and elders to safe locations.

He said that the chief executive of Cenna Welfare Society, Ghulam Ali, had provided shelter and food to many flood-hit people in his private college. Former nazim of Amankot Union Council Zulfiqar Khan also criticised the government for ignoring the deserving persons and instead extending favours on basis of political grounds.