Flood fallout: Awareness about cleanliness stressed

The seminar was organised by the Hope and Help Organisation in collaboration with the Society Development Programme Pakistan to inaugurate their Wash Project in the three flood-affected tehsils of Bhakkar: Klore Kot, Darya Khan and Bhakkar.

The speakers discussed the ways the government and NGOs could work together to provide health and cleanliness facilities in the afflicted areas.

PPP district president Naeemullah Khan Shahnai, former district nazim Rana Aftab Ahmad, District Rescue and Safety Officer Azra Shahid and Strengthening Participatory Organisation president Saeed Ahmad Gorcha were prominent among speakers.

The speakers said that health and cleanliness facilities were basic elements of a healthy society. They regretted the fact that the flood-affected areas had been deprived of these facilities.

They stressed the need for a public awareness drive in the areas so that people could avoid disease, especially water-borne diseases.

They said that the main cause of abdominal diseases in most of the rural areas was the absence of toilets. They urged the government to ensure that temporary toilets were installed in the areas where people had lost their homes and were forced to live under the sky.

Imtiaz Majeed Bhatti, the Hope and Help Organisation president, said that the organisation was working to providing 315 water-taps, 315 water-pumps and 315 latrines to the flood-affected in three tehsils of Bhakkar district. He said 900 hygiene-kits would also be distributed among the people.

He said the NGOs were trying their best to help the government in the flood relief and rehabilitation.

The concluding session of the seminar was marked by a theatre performance organised by the Bhakkar Arts Council. The drama highlighted the importance of cleanliness and some preventive measures against water-borne diseases.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 20^th, 2013.