Posts Tagged ‘Khairpur’

Malaria cases on sharp rise in Sindh after floods

A girl suffering from fever in flood-hit area in Pakistan. – AFP Photo

KARACHI: After recent floods the number of malaria cases rose sharply in Sindh, as accumulated flood water provided suitable environment to mosquitoes for breeding.

Despite many efforts of the government malaria is yet to be eliminated from the country and each year it claims hundreds of lives, say experts. Director Malaria Control Program Sindh, Dr. Naheed Jamali said that earler this cases of malaria had been on decline but the heavy floods of last year sent the number of malaria cases in Sindh soaring. — PPI

She said during the year 2009 more than 25,000 malaria cases had been reported in Sindh whereas in the year 2010 due to flood more than 57,000 cases of malaria were reported in Sindh province.

She said that there are more than 400 types of mosquitoes and it needs hectic efforts to eliminate them. She said under the malaria control program in Sindh including Karachi, 48 centers were working including the centers in teaching hospitals and health centers, where malaria patients are treated free of cost.

She pointed out that four districts of Sindh -Thatta, Khairpur, Dadu and Tharparker lead in malaria cases, while the number of reported cases is also on rise in districts of Kashmore, Ghotki and Larkana due to standing floodwater.

Dr Jamali said that last year 0.2mn mosquito nets were distributed that would remain in working condition for at least five years. To a question, she said that there was no shortage of funds, as due to the efforts of provincial health minister and secretary the program had been running successfully. She, however, admitted that sometimes disbursement of salary get delayed, consequently employees have to face trouble.

Assistant Professor of Microbiology at Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Dr. Farhan Essa said that World Malaria Day is being celebrated all over the world including Pakistan on April 25 with the purpose to create awareness about this disease among the masses.

“The outbreak of malaria takes place every year after rainfall due to which thousands of people get affected while many people also die of this disease,” he added.

The symptoms of typhoid, malaria and dengue fever resemble one another, which is why complications take place during treatment if the disease not properly diagnosed. He said to avoid these complications the treatment must be given after a proper diagnosis. He said that there are four kinds of malaria which takes place when a female mosquito bites before laying eggs.

Dr. Farhan Essa asserted that people should ensure before transfusing the blood that is it clean form malaria; otherwise, the recipient patient can develop malaria.

Dr Shaista at National Institute of Child Health (NICH) said that every year thousands of children get affected by malaria whereas hundreds of children die of malaria. She said the death cases are not often reported in media. She said that daily dozens of children suffering from malaria are brought to National Institute of Child Health in OPD as well as emergency department, who after diagnosis are treated free of cost.

Malaria is a blood infectious diseases in which patients suffer from fever, anemia and possibly jaundice, added she.

Dr Shaista said that there is certain a kind of malaria, cerebral malaria, that affects children’s brain in which after fits child may go unconscious. Parents should immunize their children against diseases like polio, black cough, measles, hepatitis B, chicken pox, flu, meningitis, tuberculosis and other diseases so that they could be protected, she urged.

Pakistan Medical Association office-bearer and senior doctor Qaisar Sajjad said that malaria is a dangerous disease .People die of malaria, but still the government is not taking steps for complete eradication of mosquitoes.

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Via DAWN.com

A new pest on acacia trees?

THIS is with reference to the picture of a tree covered in ‘spider webs’ in the flood-affected area of Khairpur Nathan Shah (April 8). Only a day earlier, a freelance journalist had drawn my attention towards the report and pictures posted on the Net by the UK Department for International Development about this phenomenon.

According to the report, millions of spiders have taken refuge in trees due to the floodwater, which is still standing in many parts of Sindh. It is stated that the local people have never seen anything like this before, but they claim to notice fewer mosquitoes because spiders are supposedly capturing them.

Apparently an expert has not examined these trees and the infesting organism. Reportedly thousands of trees have been affected. Anything with certainty can be said only after a close examination, but I highly doubt that these are spiders.

The spiders using a tree just as an abode never smother it in their web in a manner like this. The typical look of this web on the trees in Sindh is like a heavy infestation by spider mites. Although none of the pictures available on the Net is a close-up, all the affected trees (except one) are most probably acacia nilotica trees. The one which I could not identify looks like Salvadora or Zizyphus.

Spider mites are not spiders. They are web-spinning mites parasitising on a number of plant species.

They are serious pests which obtain their food by puncturing the plant cells; a heavy infestation ultimately kills the plant.

There are more than 1,600 species of spider mites the world over, some of which may look like tiny spiders while some others may be hardly visible to the naked eye.

Mostly they infest herbaceous plants, but several species parasitise on trees and shrubs. They spin the web not for capturing insects but for protecting their own colonies against any predator.

The plants under stress are more susceptible to spider mites. The trees surrounded by floodwater are surely under stress due to overwatering.

It is not clear how many trees on how much area are affected, and how many species of trees and other plants are sufferers.

However, acacia nilotica appears to be the main victim. If this is, in fact, a hitherto unrecorded species of spider mite in our area, it is an alarming situation.

The smothered trees would die in a matter of months if the infestation continues as such.

Acacia nilotica is regarded as the ‘golden tree of Sindh’ which, being an indigenous tree in complete harmony with the local environment, has innumerable ecological and economic benefits.

Large-scale death of these trees will be a great damage to the environment and livelihood of people.

The Forest Department and Plant Protection Department should pay immediate attention to examine these trees and identify and control the infesting organism.

PROF(DR) SURAYYA KHATOON
Chairperson, Department of Botany, University of Karachi

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Via DAWN.com

Harvested wheat under serious threat

I WAS aghast to read the report (April 15) that more than three million maunds of harvested wheat crop is lying in the open in Kashmore, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Sukkur and adjoining areas because of
non-availability of gunny bags.

According to the policy, wheat is procured by the provincial government through the Food Department. Hence it is the responsibility of the Food Department to provide gunny bags to growers immediately after harvest.

Now, on the one hand, restrictions have been imposed on the inter-district movement of wheat and, on the other hand, the Food Department’s minions have stopped supplying gunny bags, obviously to coerce the farming community to grease their palms.

There is no realisation in the quarters concerned that this would lead to non-procurement and, as a consequence, destruction of the crop as the Meteorological Department has forecast rainfall before its time.

Although the government is drumbeating about achieving a bumper crop, those who have made this possible are being exploited by a section of provincial food ministry officials.

The farmers in Sindh who suffered in the wake of floods last year have pinned all hopes on the current wheat crop but now feel threatened because of non-procurement of their crop by the government on time.

I request the chief minister to rescue the famers’ community or else they would suffer irreparably; this time for their uphill struggle in achieving a bumper crop of wheat.

HAJI GHULAM HUSSAIN
Khairpurm Mirs

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Via DAWN.com

12 bonded laborers recovered

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Police has raided at a truck and recovered 12 people including women and children who were being shifted to Punjab for labor.
As per details, on tip off, B section Police Station raided on a truck near Khairpur bypass at National highway on Sunday night and recovered 12 people including…

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Khairpur: 7 killed, 8 injured in van-truck collision

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At least 7 people, including women and children, were killed in a deadly road accident near Khairpur city on Saturday. Rescue operation was not immediately kicked off as officials and authorities concerned remained unaware of the incident and could not reach the scene timely. However, people travelling on the road…

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Target killing in Khairpur claims two lives

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Unknown armed personnel escaped after killing a mother and his son in Ghulam Hussain Ujjan in the outskirts of Khairpur.
According to details, unknown armed men entered the house of Odeel Ujjan and killed her wife Rabia and his son Muhammad Yasin 12, and flew to nowhere. Police shifted the…

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Tearful homecoming for flood survivors

KHAIRPUR NATHANSHAH: Hajani Chandio broke down in tears when she came home after three months in a refugee camp following the catastrophic floods that ravaged Pakistan earlier this year. “My house looked like a huge rubbish dump. It was littered with …

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Via DAWN.com

5 die in Khairpur by drinking poisonous Liquor

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At least five persons died and two sustained unconscious and one lost his eyesight due to the drinking of low-quality liquor.
According to details, the residents said that five people including Punjo Mal, Reejo Mal, Mohin Mal, Mitho Mal and Bipotical Mal died due to drinking poisonous wine.
On the…

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2 women, a child die of Hepatitis B & C in Khairpur

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At least three women including a child died in Faiz Gunj of Khairpur due to infectious disease Hepatitis B & C.
Sources said that Hepatitis B & C have been spreading in rural areas of Faiz Gunj including village Faqir Sher and Muhammad Khan Sher village. A newly married woman…

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540 lady health workers appointed illegally in Khairpur

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Forty lady health workers have revealed that 540 lady health workers were illegally appointed on 230 different places in the city.
Talking to media, all forty-lady health workers disclosed that more than 540 lady health workers appointed illegal and bestow the training and awarded training certificates. They displayed the lady…

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Houbara hunting permits issued to Gulf dignitaries

KARACHI: The federal government has issued 28 special permits to the rulers, members of ruling families and other dignitaries of four Gulf states to hunt the internationally protected Houbara bustard during the 2010-2011 season, according to reliable sources.

The sources said that, according to the code of conduct, the hunting period is restricted to 10 days with a bag limit of 100 birds.

Hunting of Houbara bustard by Pakistanis is banned under wildlife laws.

Houbara bustard, a native to Central Asia’s Kuzl Kum region, around the Aral Sea, is a migratory bird species that visits Pakistan every year to escape the harsh winter.

The bird is sought after by Arab hunters owing to a myth that its meat has aphrodisiac qualities — a notion not supported by scientific evidence.

The United Arab Emirates tops the list with 13 hunting permits — 11 of these have been awarded to the ruler and ruling family members. Five of these have been granted to people from Abu Dhabi and six from Dubai.

ABU DHABI
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, President of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi, has been allotted hunting areas in three provinces.

In Punjab he has been granted Rahimyar Khan, Rajanpur and D.G. Khan districts, in Sindh Sukkur, Ghotki, Nawabshah and Sanghar districts and in Balochistan his areas comprise Zhob, Ormara, Gwadar, Pasni, Panjgur and Washuk districts.

Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown prince of Abu Dhabi, can hunt in Lehri Tehsil of Sibi district, Balochistan.

Deputy prime minister of UAE, Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, has been permitted to hunt in Khairpur district, including Kot Diji.

DUBAI
Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice-president of UAE and ruler of Dubai, has been permitted to hunt in Khuzdar and Lasbela districts of Balochistan and Muzaffargarh district in Punjab.

SAUDI ARABIA
Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud has been allotted Chagai and Nushki districts of Balochistan.

Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz, interior minister and brother of King Abdullah, has been permitted to hunt in Dera Bugti, Dera Murad Jamali, Nasirabad and Awaran districts of Balochistan.

In Punjab his territory comprises Khushab, Jhang, Mianwali and Sargodha districts.

QATAR
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the amir of Qatar, has been allotted Bahawalnagar district in Punjab.

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Via DAWN.com

Khairpur Nathan Shah evacuated

ISLAMABAD (APP) – Ongoing flood devastation in Sindh province is underway as tehsil Khairpur Nathan Shah is being seen on rapid evacuation as fast roaring deluge is heading to wreak anticipated havoc in the area.
MPA Imran Leghari told a private news channel Thursday that emergency had been declared in…

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Chuhar Jamali, Shah Bundar declared red zone

Floodwaters would likely to hit Chuhar Jamali and Shah Bundar after Jati while several villages have been submerged as a breach emerged in a canal near village Dadu, a private TV reported. Flood threat looms large on Dadu city. Breach in MNV Canal inundated over 100 villages including Moheer, Khairpur,…

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391 Dadu villages ordered to evacuate

Raging floodwaters from Hamal Lake may enter Dadu district anytime today, report said on Friday. DCO Iqbal Memon told a private TV channel that people of 391 villages of 18 union councils of Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Juhi, districts of Dadu, have been directed to leave. The capacity of…

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Guddu to brace for 1m cusec water in next 3 days

ISLAMABAD – River Indus at Guddu is likely to sustain Exceptionally High Flood Level up to 1,000,000 cusecs during the next 3 to 4 days. Under this scenario, inundation and riverside flooding could occur in low-lying areas of District Khairpur, Jacobabad, Ghotki and Sukkur. River Indus at Sukkur is also…

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No respite from calamitous floods

Zamir Sheikh, RAMZAN CHANDIO & A Ghaffar
SUKKUR/KHAIRPUR/KARACHI – The roaring floodwaters continued to wreak havoc in Sindh as more cities and rural population have come under the danger of flooding on Friday.
Several breaches developed in many canals in upper Sindh with water entering Jacobabad and other nearby towns…

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No respite from calamitous floods

Zamir Sheikh, RAMZAN CHANDIO & A Ghaffar
SUKKUR/KHAIRPUR/KARACHI – The roaring floodwaters continued to wreak havoc in Sindh as more cities and rural population have come under the danger of flooding on Friday.
Several breaches developed in many canals in upper Sindh with water entering Jacobabad and other nearby towns…

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