The southern Pakistan village of Karim Bakhsh is almost entirely under muddy water after catastrophic monsoon rains hardly any stable buildings are left for shelter, the wheat silos are empty and venomous snakes are a constant threat. But unlike the tens of thousands of people who have fled their flooded homes, villages and towns across the country, several families here have refused to leave.
Without formal property deeds, many residents are worried that if they take off opportunists will seize their land, where their families have lived for generations.
“We had ownership papers from the British colonial government,” Intizar Ahmed, a 55-year-old farmer, told AFP Wednesday while standing on an elevated patch of land near his mostly submerged homestead in Sindh province. But we lost them many years ago in a flood like this… (besides) we have no place to go.”
Others said they worried about the fate of their livestock — a resource far too valuable for poor villagers to leave behind. We have buffaloes, cows and goats… if we leave the cattle behind they would be stolen,” said Shah Mohammad, 35.
Mohammad and others were scrambling to find food not just for themselves, but for their animals too.
There was enough for the animals to eat for now, he said, but villagers have been struggling to replenish empty wheat bins. Aid delivered by boat by charities is the only lifeline for those who can’t or don’t want to leave Karim Bakhsh.
Source: eNCA
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