EMERGENCY RESPONSE 2011 District: SANGHAR
Situation Report # 01 20 October 2011
General View
Since August 2011, central and lower districts on the left bank of Indus river in Sindh Pakistan are inundated by extreme monsoon rain water. According to NDMA, devastating floods at a massive scale have hit 22 out of 23 districts with more than 20,000 villages affected and 7 million people displaced in Sindh.
Sanghar Post-flood Situation
This devastation has caused damages 162,903 houses and left 145,629 people homeless. Sanghar district is the worst affected in Sindh in terms of crop damage. A total of 356,481 acres of crops have submerged. Alarmingly, this much of crops loss is almost double than any other District of the province affected by these rains. IDPs’ have deeply fallen prey to difficulties and have been compelled to live in hazardous conditions under the open skies. Demolished houses, perished cattle, insufficient water and sanitation and health facilities, food scarcity, and communicable diseases along with sense of deprivation have doubled their sufferings.
Rapid Loss Assessment
Heavy rains washed away the means of survival, the affected masses left their homes and villages, and found refuge at spontaneous settlements along roadsides, canals and high grounds.
Responding to this state of emergency, DevCon’s Senior Management held urgent meetings with its staff for quick review of the exacerbating situation and DevCon acknowledges IOM’s support plan the response. DevCon, after formulating the ER core team, carried out to the shelter-less monsoon flood Rapid Assessment. Out of 55 UCs of six Talukas, DevCon assessed 48 UCs by IDPS in Sanghar district of Sindh. visiting 308 spontaneous Camps. Rests of 07 UCs were out of possible access due to water which was submerging the villages and damaged infrastructure. Sanghar was totally disconnected from other parts of the province, and even local road network in the district also came under water and virtually became dysfunctional. DevCon, by coping with the hurdles and overcoming all of the challenges, reached the IDPs with shelter support.
DevCon’s Response
After getting the IDPs assessed, DevCon held a meeting with UN agency IOM-International Organization for Migration-at Hyderabad. The two organizations entered into partnership for providing basic supplies of Non-food Items for 3000 families, initially. DevCon in collaboration with IOM initiated Relief Program in 38 villages of 7 UCs in Talukas Sanghar and Sinjhoro along with 500 NFIs distribution in Shahdadpur and Tando Adam Talukas. Moreover, 300 fully fledged Winterized Tents, were also provided to the shelter-less and most needy in 09 villages of UCs Asgharabad, Khadro and Jhol. Distribution methodology was formulated and planned with the Non-Food Items Summary coordination of IOM’s focal person which was well reviewed Tents 300 One/Family by DevCon’s department of Monitoring and Evaluation. Plastic Sheets 6000 Two/Family
Kitchen Sets 3000 One/Family Provisions were aimed to be delivered to the most needy and Tool Kits 1000 One/Family vulnerable IDPs’ on need and vulnerability based priority. In Blankets 6000 Two/Family order to ensure the transparent mechanism along with Jerry Canes 3000 One/Family keeping in view the security concerns, close coordination was Mats 6000 Two/Family developed with the district government. M&E Staff of DevCon Ropes 3000 One/Family and IOM’s staff jointly carried out monitoring at the distribution points before and after the completion of the distribution. The total no of direct beneficiaries has reached to 24,000. For the second phase, assessment has been completed in Shahdadpur taluka of Sanghar for NFI provisions. Case Study Tale of a family that received tent to sleep under a shelter while being an IDP.
Premo, a 05 year child s/o Jammi with seven siblings lives in a hamlet Haji Ayub, UC Jhol, District Sanghar. Premo’s family has been staying under sky at canal side since the calamity deprived them of their home. Their home has completely came to the ground which compelled his family to leave their house and village. Living bare-headed under open skies, in an unsecure environment with no access to necessary elements of survival made Premo’s parents bear scorching sun in day and cold and mosquitoes at night. There is little food and no clean drinking water available at the camp. The camp also lacks toilets and healthcare services. Given such scarcity of necessary amenities, Premo and his family are gravely challenged to meet their basic survival needs. Premo’s parents are found quite frightened of Snack-bites and other fatal diseases. Premo seemed laid down on uncovered muddy place suffering high grade malarial fever caused by a number of mosquito-breading. Jammi, mother of Premo, told that no one had come then, to look them after or asses their condition even.
She shared that “We have received no aid and hospitality since we are displaced, due to unhygienic conditions and little food me and my children are getting malnourished day by day. When we elders are not able to bear the cold without ceiling and blankets, how then would our infants be able enough to bear it? Furthermore, mosquitoes have worsened our lives. Jammi also told that they had also lost the dowry of their daughter-due to massive fallout of their house-they kept intact for her marriage.
“The support of this tent has given Premo (in the lap of her mother) with his siblings in a tent us a feeling of protection in the day and night times”……….. Jammi
DevCon is a registered NGO working in four districts i.e Sanghar, Badin, Thatto, and Dadu of Sindh province. We are a specialized organization with vast experience in Child Protection, Education, Emergencies, and Advocacy themes. DevCon is working with a mission to “Empower the socially excluded through awareness-building, education and providing them the opportunity to exercise their basic rights through enhancement of their participation and representation in the social, economic, and political arena”
Contact us at: DevCon: An Association for Rural Development House # 124-A/16, Housing Society, Sanghar, Sindh, Pakistan. Phone: +92-235-541441-2 Fax: +92-235-541443 Website: www.devconpk.org E-mail: [email protected]