The United Nations has warned of large scale deaths due to hunger in Sindh as the currently available food stocks for rain- and flood-affected people is expected to exhaust by October 10.
Briefing journalists at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) relief camp in Sanjhoro, Sanghar, programme head Fawad Hussain said that 5.44 million people in the province have become homeless due to the recent monsoon downpours. “The UN is providing food to 50,000 people but the food stock will exhaust on October 10 due to the minimal flow of funding and donations by UN member states in the past few days.”
“After the appeal from President Asif Ali Zardari, the UN asked its member states for $367 million aid for flood relief. But due to the slow response, only six percent of the required aid was realised,” Hussain said. The UN has been engaged in relief and rescue operations since September 7 after President Zardari’s appeal to UN Secretary General. Describing reasons behind the poor response, he said that the country was experiencing back-to-back natural disasters since the 2005 earthquake but the most important reason is the provincial government’s failure to work on loopholes in the irrigation system identified by the last year’s flood commission.
Last year, the Indus River’s right bank was affected due to riverine flooding, but this year the left bank had been affected due to heavy rains, he said. “It has become difficult for the UN to justify funding due to the Pakistani government’s snail-paced efforts in coping up with disasters.” Like previous years, China, Turkey and UAE have come forward to support Pakistan this time again.
Sanghar is among the eight worst-affected districts of the province with up to eight feet of water submerging crops and houses, but it was not given priority like Badin and Benazirabad districts due to political interferences. The provincial government has announced commencement of educational activities from October 10 but another problem would arise for sheltering the displaced people. The stagnant water is resulting in skin diseases, diarrhoea, gastroenteritis and malaria in the population that has emerged as a new challenge for the UN.
“We have no laboratory facilities to differentiate malaria from dengue fever. Unavailability of safe drinking water is causing diarrhoea and gastroenteritis and there is an immediate need for provision of potable water. Some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are trying to set up hand pumps in the areas.” The OCHA programme head claimed that the water purification tablets distributed by the provincial government among the affected people not also proved ineffective but also caused a mess in medical camps as many people felt headaches after consuming them.
The World Health Organisation has been informed about the health issues. NGOs, basic health units and district administrations need to be provided with medicines and laboratory facilities for treatment of flood affectees. Hussain alleged that political interference in the entire province is hindering relief activities. “Moreover, NGOs engaged in relief work have reported hijacking of their vehicles on way to relief camps at gunpoint. The NGOs need security to carry on relief work.”
Mass deaths feared as food stocks to end by 10th
