Post Reply 
 
Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Flood survivors demand land in cities, deplore ‘urban apathy’
04-18-2011, 12:48 PM
Post: #1
Flood survivors demand land in cities, deplore ‘urban apathy’
KARACHI - Speakers at a seminar on the rehabilitation of flood affected people - with the focus on ‘choices imposed and choices made’ – have demanded that the lands of Karachi, allotted to the people of other provinces, should be given to the flood survivors of Sindh.
“The flood-affected people living in relief camps are being forced to leave the city,” they added. The seminar was organised at the Jashn-e-Faiz event by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) on Sunday. Flood survivors from the relief camps in Gulshan-e-Maymar, Super Highway and Hyderabad Sabzi Mandi told the audience on the occasion that they feel their days of struggle would continue in the face of the apathy towards them.
“Whatever help was there when we were pushed to the cities after floods has all gone now. People are being made to feel that the displacement is not the state’s problem. This is unfair. Not only the poor disaster management of the government added to our miseries, the disaster itself was a result of government’s poor policy and governance structures,” they said in their testimonies.
“Now when the government and the urban citizens think of us as nobody’s problem, one wants to tell them that there are serious questions that need to be answered. Forcing us back to go home when the water has neither receded nor have there been any arrangements made to clear the debris is most unfair and amounts to treating us as outsiders,” they added. Only a few survivors in their testimonies declared the floods as a blessing in disguise.
“The floods forced us to move to the cities, and it was only upon reaching here that we realised how claustrophobic life has been living in the clutches of feudal landlords. People need to ask why flood survivors want to live in the cities and not go back if given an option. The fact is that we have been living a life of slavery for generations. Why should we be forced to live a life where our being is tied with the whims of the powerful feudal landlords?”
Identifying lack of clean drinking water and health and educational facilities; non-delivery of Watan Cards and absence of livelihood options as critical challenges, the survivors said that they do not expect much from the government. “We are ready to help ourselves, but the state must provide an opportunity to improve our lives. We are not ready to accept the life of misery that we have been living in the past.”
Speaking on the occasion, Nazim Haii, the trustee of Etimaad Trust said that the preparations for the next floods should start in the wake of predictions of another cycle of floods and the poor state response on the issue. He said that people will have to stand up and work on a self help basis. “There has been little support for the flood survivors. Enthusiastic and committed citizens, who had earlier helped generously, too have slowed down in their efforts. The worrying part is that if the country faces another round of floods in the coming three to four months, how would that be dealt with? No efforts are being made to repair the embankments of the Indus River,” he said.
He offered his organisation’s support for the rehabilitation of the flood-affected people. Karamat Ali, the executive director of PILER and labour rights activist said that the flood survivors need to reassert their presence. “Nobody can understand and speak for the flood survivors’ issues better than they themselves. They need to raise their voice consistently and loudly. It is important to work on self-help basis but that shouldn’t lead the state into abdicating from its responsibilities,” he said.
He urged the survivors to change their approach towards citizenship rights. “We are equal citizens of the country. We have the right to demand the state to treat us with dignity and deliver on social services and other responsibilities. Flood survivors have not come here from foreign countries. They are citizens of this country. Expecting them to beg for their entitlements is unjustified. Also the state has no right to force them to go back to their towns, even when they want to settle in the cities,” he said.
The survivors demanded that they be allotted land in cities. “When free land is allotted to the elite class on one pretext or the other, why can’t we be allotted land to live here and start a new life? Hundreds of acres on the outskirts of the city have been doled out to the powerful who would now be selling it out as commercial enterprises. We have the right to state’s land and other social provisions. These must be allotted to us with dignity,” they said.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Zahida Detho of the Sindh Rural Partners Organisation, Raees Jan Mohammad, Mohammad Khan, Shareefan, Naseeban Bhatti, Zulfiqar Chandio, Noor Ahmed Gadahi and Hameeda Golo.
Visit this user's website Find all posts by this user
Quote this message in a reply
Post Reply 


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to Introduce Retailer Tax in Five Major Cities LRE-Azan 0 167 01-06-2024 05:25 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  CDA Proposes New Dam Project to Meet Islamabad Water Demand LRE-Azan 0 275 10-13-2023 07:55 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Despite Delays, CDA Discloses Its Urban Facelift Plan LRE-Azan 0 350 08-24-2023 05:11 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) - Cash & Installment Files | Best Opportunity LRE-Azan 0 447 05-20-2023 04:23 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Pre-Urban Planning For Gujar Khan And Kotli Sattian Has Been Finished As Part Of The LRE-Azan 0 557 04-08-2023 02:13 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  PESHAWAR News: CM KP Approves First Ever Urban Policy 2030 LRE-Azan 0 646 01-21-2023 01:21 PM
Last Post: LRE-Azan
  Bahria Town Expanding To Other Cities Salman 0 5,592 03-06-2014 12:27 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Land Department Plans To Develop Nurseries At Railways Land Salman 0 8,401 11-11-2013 04:57 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Bahria Town Expanding its Projects to other cities soon Salman 0 11,122 10-30-2013 01:23 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Encroachments multiplying due to CDA’s apathy Salman 0 5,138 08-29-2013 12:30 PM
Last Post: Salman
  The Budget Bill For Urban Development Wing, WASA And TEPA, Passed Salman 0 6,561 07-30-2013 02:36 PM
Last Post: Salman
  The Budget Bill For Urban Development Wing, WASA And TEPA, Passed Salman 0 6,120 07-30-2013 02:36 PM
Last Post: Salman
  House rents unaffordable in twin cities Salman 0 3,648 01-15-2013 12:43 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Ashiana Housing Schemes Work begins in Other Cities Of Punjab Salman 0 9,774 01-02-2013 12:51 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Urban development: LDA approves Rs3b project for signal-free Qurtaba Chowk Salman 0 4,443 12-10-2012 12:29 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Development projects Twin cities but pole apart Salman 0 4,482 12-03-2012 11:56 AM
Last Post: Salman
  Metro bus for other cities soon: Shahbaz Salman 0 3,878 10-25-2012 04:28 PM
Last Post: Salman
  I-12 dwellers demand proper sanitary system Salman 0 4,604 09-13-2012 12:32 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Land use: Housing on agri-land to be referred to 2nd committee Salman 0 4,424 09-04-2012 02:13 PM
Last Post: Salman
  Check on housing schemes City’s peri-urban areas will be mapped Salman 0 5,243 09-04-2012 02:10 PM
Last Post: Salman

Forum Jump:


User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)