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| Water in streets of Arazi |
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| Water in streets of Arazi |
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Road Sehwan/Dadu underwater |
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| Bridge of Aral Tail |
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| Affected people of Arazi |
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| Water flowing in Aral Tail |
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| There WAS a road here before Flood |
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| Affected people at Arazi |
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Visit to Arazi/Sehwan 21 Sep 2010
11:11 PM
Asif Mirza
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Flood hit areas of Sehwan
11:36 PM
Asif Mirza
I visited Sehwan with Mr Fahad Asad (from Karachi Relief Trust) on Sep 21,2010 to survey the area of Sehwan and identify the locations needing help. The road from Sehwan to Dadu is under water and almost all the village on way, Arazi, Bubak, Bakhtiarpur, Bhan Saeedabad are all under water. Bubak and Arazi situated little higher than the ground level, are saved, but the water ...........
............is flowing in their streets. People are trapped in these villages and even the flood affected families from around have also migrated to these villages. The only mean to reach these villages is through boats. I also visited the areas on the other side... like Bajara/ Jhangara. We can approach Bajara and from there onwards is all flood water. Jhangara can be approached by boats only. Families ae trapped in the water surrnding the villages. I understand, at least 30-35000 people are trapped in all these villages. Manchhar is connected to River Indus through Aral Wah Head (near Government College, Sehwn) and Aral Tail (known as Chhandan, near Lal Bagh) Both these canals join and then lead to River Indus. Aral Tail is over flowing.. The speed of the water flowing under the bridge is frightening. Fishermen are however using the opportunity for fishing. They have placed their fishing nets under the bridge.On way to Sehwan, we saw river water near Manjhand also.
People are homeless, deprived of all thei rbelongings. Many of them are still on the roadsides. Some o fthem have received tents, others have their own arrangement.
Inspite of al our efforts the whole day, we could nto get boats for Bubak. However in th eevening arpound 6 pm, we arranged three boats for Arazi, loaded the ration and proceeded to Arazi to distribute the ration to the trapped people. I have worked in this area from 1996 to 2000. I was pleased and keen to visit Arazi those days as I liked the neat and clean high school and well disciplined students of Arazi. The students painted the walls, cleaned the whole school as a routine. Now this village is surrounded by water. People are living at the roof of pucca buildings like of school. About 448 families (219 outsider and 229 local) are trapped in Arazi. It was good to see that the affected people were very disciplined, peacuful and patient. They had gathered at one place to meet us. Since we could not arrange a boat an took logn time to reach, they had to wait for quite long. We reached at 1015 pm. It took us about three hours to cover the distance of 7 km from Sehwan to Arazi. But they were patiently waiting, and even after we reached, there was no unrest seen. They were calm and organzied. Credit goes to Syed Raees Shah, the notable of the village who is leading this whole excercise. We did not see any discrimination on basis of political affiliation, language, area or religion. Many of the residents of Arazi are employed at different places, but these days, even they are trapped in water. Inspite of having resources, they cannot go out and procure the items needed for day to day usage.
On way to Arazi, we saw the rail track and the road merged in water, thus disconnecting he areas from each other.
For map of Sehwan plz visit http://www.maplandia.com/pakistan/sind/dadu/sehwan/ (Arazi is on way to Bubak from Sehwan).
For bigger picture of the status of flood in the country please visit
SUGGESTION: I understand that instead of static camps in Sehwan, the philanthropists and NGOs working in this field, should distribute dry ration to THESE trapped families in different villages, through boats. The ration thrown through helicopters, is neither sufficient, nor reaches everyone.
............is flowing in their streets. People are trapped in these villages and even the flood affected families from around have also migrated to these villages. The only mean to reach these villages is through boats. I also visited the areas on the other side... like Bajara/ Jhangara. We can approach Bajara and from there onwards is all flood water. Jhangara can be approached by boats only. Families ae trapped in the water surrnding the villages. I understand, at least 30-35000 people are trapped in all these villages. Manchhar is connected to River Indus through Aral Wah Head (near Government College, Sehwn) and Aral Tail (known as Chhandan, near Lal Bagh) Both these canals join and then lead to River Indus. Aral Tail is over flowing.. The speed of the water flowing under the bridge is frightening. Fishermen are however using the opportunity for fishing. They have placed their fishing nets under the bridge.On way to Sehwan, we saw river water near Manjhand also.
People are homeless, deprived of all thei rbelongings. Many of them are still on the roadsides. Some o fthem have received tents, others have their own arrangement.
Inspite of al our efforts the whole day, we could nto get boats for Bubak. However in th eevening arpound 6 pm, we arranged three boats for Arazi, loaded the ration and proceeded to Arazi to distribute the ration to the trapped people. I have worked in this area from 1996 to 2000. I was pleased and keen to visit Arazi those days as I liked the neat and clean high school and well disciplined students of Arazi. The students painted the walls, cleaned the whole school as a routine. Now this village is surrounded by water. People are living at the roof of pucca buildings like of school. About 448 families (219 outsider and 229 local) are trapped in Arazi. It was good to see that the affected people were very disciplined, peacuful and patient. They had gathered at one place to meet us. Since we could not arrange a boat an took logn time to reach, they had to wait for quite long. We reached at 1015 pm. It took us about three hours to cover the distance of 7 km from Sehwan to Arazi. But they were patiently waiting, and even after we reached, there was no unrest seen. They were calm and organzied. Credit goes to Syed Raees Shah, the notable of the village who is leading this whole excercise. We did not see any discrimination on basis of political affiliation, language, area or religion. Many of the residents of Arazi are employed at different places, but these days, even they are trapped in water. Inspite of having resources, they cannot go out and procure the items needed for day to day usage.
On way to Arazi, we saw the rail track and the road merged in water, thus disconnecting he areas from each other.
For map of Sehwan plz visit http://www.maplandia.com/pakistan/sind/dadu/sehwan/ (Arazi is on way to Bubak from Sehwan).
For bigger picture of the status of flood in the country please visit
