MITHI: Five more children died in hospitals of Thar during the past two days, raising the toll to 64 this year.

The five infants brought to the Civil Hospital of Mithi lost their lives due to malnourishment and related diseases.

Officials at the district health office in Mithi told Dawn that with the deaths of five more infants, the toll had risen to 64 this year alone.

Showing their concern over the unabated deaths of infants in Thar, Dr Shaikh Tanweer Ahmed of a local NGO, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Haleem Adil Shaikh and other activists have asked the Sindh government to take initiatives in the light of a recent UN report on the worsening situation in Thar released on Monday.

The UN commission stated that the situation in desert districts, including Thar, might turn into a `humanitarian emergency` The parents carrying their ailing infants complained about lack of facilities in various government hospitals.

`Contract to run RO plants extended` Functionaries of the Sindh Coal Authority (SCA) on Wednesday agreed to extend the contract with Pak Oasis till March 30 to smoothly run 84 RO plants including what is termed Asia`s biggest solar hybrid plant in Misri Shah area of Mithi town installed in various areas of Thar.

The functionaries concerned in a letter requested officials of the firm not to shut the plants till March 30 when they would invite tenders for the sixth time to hand over the plants in Thar.

Officials of Pak Oasis told Dawn that after the fresh request from the authorities concerned, they had agreed to run the plants till fresh tenders were invited.