30,000 flood victims to arrive from Thatta

By Irfan Aligi
KARACHI: The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the city due to floods soared to 35,725 on Thursday while around 30,000 IDPs from the flood-hit district Thatta were expected to arrive by late night.
Apart from the existing 31 flood-relief camps, two more camps were being prepared at the Transport Depot in SITE and in a ground behind the warehouse of the Trading Corporation of Pakistan in Pipri, Deputy District Officer (DDO) Revenue, Headquarters-II Shahzeb Khan told Daily Times.
The authorities have approached the Pakistan Steel Mills administration for providing land for new IDPs on their way to the city as the number of IDPs from district Thatta could range from 80,000 to 120,000 approximately, the DDO informed.
Non-governmental organisations (NGO), philanthropists and welfare trusts have sponsored 12 relief camps with around 22,000 IDPs, said Khan.
The number of relief camps in the city was expected to rise to around 60 in a few days.
However, in contrast to the exact figures and sponsored flood relief camps, the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) administration claimed that the number of IDPs was 34,000 in the 31 camps, out of which only five had been sponsored.
The CDGK administration in a statement issued Thursday, rejected monetary support from the citizens and appealed to sponsor a relief camp or at least provide relief goods instead.
The statement further said that City Administrator Fazlur Rehman had visited the relief camps and assured the IDPs of complete support on behalf of the CDGK.
The CDGK also said that philanthropists, NGOs and the welfare trusts had sponsored 17,003 IDPs.
Source: Daily Times – 27.08.2010