The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Monday that at least 209 people had been killed by recent floods in southern Sindh, as the United Nations began a drive to feed half a million people affected by torrential rains in the country.“So far, 209 people have been killed and 5.3 million affected,” NDMA chief Zafar Qadir told reporters.
“Around 1.7 million acres of agricultural land has also been affected by the rains and floods.” The UN food agency said it had started to provide emergency supplies to the first of half a million people, following a weekend appeal from Pakistan. World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Amjad Jamal said the agency had provided food packages to more than 600 families in Badin, one of the worst affected districts of Sindh. “This is the first UN food response after Pakistan’s government’s appeal. We will expand this programme to half a million people in coming days,” he said.
China, Pakistan’s most trusted foreign ally, said it had pledged $4.7 million for urgent humanitarian assistance and its ambassador on Monday handed over a cheque worth $50,000 to the NDMA, which said it was working to quantify “huge” losses with cash crops such as sugarcane, banana and cotton now under water. Seasonal crops such as chilies, tomatoes and mangoes were also destroyed by the floods.
ANOTHER 30 KILLED: In Mirpurkhas, one of the worst-hit districts in Sindh, more troops were called in by the district administration on Monday when the third spell of heavy monsoon rainfall caused further devastation in an area already battered by weeks of rains. Another 30 people were reportedly killed in Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Badin, Tando Allahyar, Thatha, Tando Muhammad Khan and other areas of Sindh. To add to the woes of the flood victims, gastroenteritis, malaria, cholera and other diseases have begun to spread at an alarming rate. Thousands of people are still stranded in Samaro, Pithoro, Kunri, Jhuddo, Naukot, Kaloi, Naukot Digri, Tando Jan Muhammad, Badin, Tando Muhammad Khan, Sanghar, Jam Nawaz Ali, Tando Adam, Tando Allahyar and other parts of Sindh. Meanwhile, the breaches in the main spinal drain of LBOD in Sanghar remained unplugged, which led to the city being almost completely submerged by water.
In Umerkot, more than 1,000 flood victims desperate for relief stormed six trucks laden with relief goods and police baton-charged them, injuring around 30 of them, including women and children. Police also fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd. The flood victims later protested outside the Umerkot district coordination officer’s office against the baton charge.
Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said on Monday that the government would allocate Rs 20 million to the reconstruction of flood-hit areas. He said non-government organisations and the wealthier segments of society should also take part in the relief efforts.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said meanwhile that fresh troops had been deployed on rescue operations in southern Sindh along with necessary equipment.
The navy has also evacuated 1,392 flood victims from the calamity-hit areas under its Madad East operation.
