KARACHI: Around 46 percent children in Sindh face stunted growth due to malnutrition, USAID Deputy Mission Director Denise Herbol said on Thursday.
He was addressing a seminar titled: Improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Sindh, organised by USAID, HANDS and the government of Sindh.
UNICEF Sindh specialist Irfan Alrai said that Sindh was passing through a transitional phase as people were migrating from rural to urban areas.
He said that 61 percent of the population was drinking surface water which was not hygienic. “Around 14 percent people drink unimproved water,” he said.
“Besides, 53 percent of schools in the province are without latrines. This all paints a bleak picture of Sindh,” he said. a”Recently, the Sindh Water Commission said that people all over the province are not being provided safe drinking water in accordance with the standards of World Health Organisation. The Sindh government has approved water and sanitation policies which will be implemented soon,” he said. Referring to the commission’s report, he said that dirty water was disposed of into the Indus River from at least 414 places in Sindh.
MPA Jaam Madad Ali said that several development projects had been initiated and carried out. “However, several projects became non-functional after their completion,” he said.
MPA Mazharul Haq said that many good policies and development projects designed by the former ruling party had been ignored by the current government as they were from the opposition. “Good policies must be continued for the progress of the country without politicising them,” he said.
He said that in 2008, he had proposed an underground sewerage system in Dadu. However, the project has still not been implemented yet, he said.
Haji Shafi Jamot, another parliamentarian, said that millions of gallons of contaminated water were disposed of into the river. “A mechanism for recycling water must be designed to use the water in fields,” he said.
Another parliamentarian Fakirdad Khoso said that consuming unclean drinking water gave rise to a number of diseases. “Both the federal and the Sindh government should join hands to take some measures to resolve such genuine issues of nation,” he said.
Sindh Assembly Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, MPAs Nusrat Abbasi, Peso Malh, Sorath Thebo, civil society representatives, media persons and government officials also attended the meeting.
Published in Daily Times, June 23rd, 2017.
