Damage to Christian slums compounded by water released from large storage vats from city mosque
By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
ISLAMABAD,PAKISTAN
(ANS) -- Monsoon
rains are causing problems in most areas of the northern Punjab, KPK
and Kashmir. The deluge has broken the recent heat wave and many people
are enjoying the cooler climate.
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A motorcylist making his way through the floods
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Islamabad has so far received
the highest levels of rainfall, calculated around 128 millimeters and
Rawalpindi's rainfall is close to 68 millimeters.
According to Masih,
Christians, who comprise most of the slum area dwellers, are facing
serious challenges, as they grapple with the loss of household items,
damaged homes, and often unusable roads.
There is also a lack of food in some areas and little or no shelter in the hardest hit areas.
In addition, water stored in large vats since 2008, has been released to make room for the new rainfall.
Strange as it may seem, it appears Masih claims that a local Muslim cleric has control of some of the city's water storage.
According to Masih, despite
pleas from the Christian community, the cleric opened the water sheds to
direct the flow of excess water towards the Christian colony which is
in direct line of the flow of water.
The large volume of water released by the opening of these water vats compounded the problems already caused by the monsoons.
Masih said the damaged Christian
communities are upset that government aid is not arriving in their
areas. They believe they are being overlooked by the government and
NGO's.
The British Pakistani Christian Association (www.britishpakistanichristians.co.uk) has organized a disaster relief fund to help the Islamabad Christian community.
See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net
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