Escaping the Flood: Glimpses from Life in Rural Sindh
Recent floods in Pakistan have claimed over 1500 lives, and affected over 30 million. Rahmat Tunio shows the displacement of rural communities in Dadu and Larkana.
Residents 0f Gaji Khawar, in district Qambar Shahdadkot, waiting to be rescued by boats operated by local contractors. These local contractors charge each person Rs. 500 per boat ride.
There is a health crisis brewing in Sindh because of the floods. This medical camp in Qambar Shahdadkot, which is meant to serve flood affectees, is closed. Residents are complaining about the lack of availability of medicines, but there remains no sign of the government or related organizations.
Dadu and Qambar Shahdadkot are the most affected districts in Sindh. In tehsil Khairpur Nathan Shah of Dadu, people have resorted to using sticks and empty cans to try and escape the area. Eight to nine feet of water has been recorded in this area.
In the village Qaim Khan Jatoi of Dadu, people didn’t even receive basic tents. They are being forced to use charpoys and other belongings to build makeshift shelters.
Residents of Suprev Band, Dadu are transporting their valuables on carts. They say that the government has not helped in any way. “We are dying of hunger and illness. Only a few social and political organizations came to give some medicines, but those were insufficient. There are a lot of us.”
Scene from a completely submerged village in Larkana.
Makeshift shelters built by locals on raised land in Larkana.
In Shahdadkot, unavailability of tents and other facilities have forced this child, who has a fever, to sleep in the scorching heat in a makeshift shelter made of blankets and charpoys.
A child waiting for his parents in this makeshift shelter in Naseerabad.
Flood affectees in Naseerabad headed towards the road in search of temporary shelter.
A child looking at the belongings his family was able to retrieve from their home, which was destroyed by the floods in Naseerabad.
Rahmat Tunio is an independent multimedia journalist covering environment stories in Sindh. He has a Masters in media studies from SMIU, Karachi.