Zindagi Trust provided over 2,000 comforters to people affected by the flood through Garrison Commander, Hyderabad. The site is over one hour helicopter ride out of Hyderabad.
In terms of the total damage wreaked by the floods, Dadu district was the worst- affected district in Sindh. In Mehar, the administrative subdivision of Dadu district, flooding forced residents to move on top of Suprio Bund and two other similar embankments. These embankments are just wide enough for a single road and a tent. Thousands of people are now living in tents on top of these narrow embankments, surrounded by stagnant water on either side.
Even 3 months after the flood hit Sindh, the water has still not receded from Dadu. The only way to drain the water is either through evaporation, absorption by the soil or by re-directing it to canals that first need to be repaired (these canals were damaged due to the floods and hence are unusable currently).
Although the Pakistan army is working hard to provide relief to the displaced people, they tell us that the earliest the canals can be repaired, and the water drained is June 2011. To make things worse, the stagnant water has provided an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes that have led to diseases such as malaria. The winter is also more severe due to the cooling effect of the huge pools of water.
Zindagi Trust has been collaborating with the Pakistan Army in providing relief to the flood victims. We were told by them that due to the cold winters, quilts and warm clothing were in dire need. Accordingly on December 6th, 2010, the Zindagi Trust team visited Mehar. They took with them enough quilts for 2000 people.
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