Sep 20(ABC): With millions of people displaced from their homes across the province following flash floods, Karachi’s administration has decided to set up a tent city in Malir district to accommodate more than 15,000 flood survivors, officials said on Tuesday.
“We will accommodate them in more than 2,000 tents,” said Malir Deputy Commissioner Irfan Salam Mirwani.
At the moment, Mirwani said that internally displaced people (IDPs) from across Sindh have been put up at 39 places across the city, including government schools, medical centers etc, none of which are suitable for long-term stay and have an unhealthy environment.
The deputy commissioner promised that in the tent city, IDPs will be provided with facilities such as clean drinking water, doctors and medicine for the vector-borne diseases that have emerged in different camps of IDPs.
“Schools for children and ‘dastarkhwans’ (meal spreads) will also be arranged in the tent city,” he commented.
Where will they stay?
The Malir development authority has written to the Malir District Administration seeking permission to set up the tent city in Sector 18 of New Malir Housing Scheme-1.
Mirwani added that they have provisionally sought permission for setting up the tent city for a month.
With incidents earlier this month of land mafia members attempting to grab MDA land while posing as IDPs, Mirwani said that no one will be allowed stake claim over the temporary settlements at any stage.
The deputy commissioner reiterated that the government’s first priority was to gather the IDPs at a single location so that they can be easily provided with basic facilities.
