Last Updated:
February 7, 2012
One month on, Pakistan’s torment worsens
Flood victims returning to their homes in Basera, Punjab, as the waters recede
Up to a million people have fled their homes in the past two days, as floods, never seen on such a scale, continue to sweep south.
A month after devastating floods first brought havoc to Pakistan, thousands of people were still fleeing surging water yesterday as the Indus broke its banks close to a historic city in the country’s south.
Officials said water had breached the river’s defences close to Thatta and had also flooded a second canal that feeds from the Indus. Yesterday evening, officials estimated that the 20ft breach in the levee, which happened early in the morning, could cause flooding in the outskirts of the city by nightfall.
Most of the 200,000-strong population of Thatta, 75 miles south-east of Karachi, have already left the city, camping out by the sides of roads or trying to move to cities out of the flood zone. Hundreds of families were taking shelter in an ancient Muslim graveyard and in a nearby Hindu temple.
Up to a million people have been forced to flee their homes in the past 48 hours. With so many needing help and so little relief reaching the southern parts of Sindh province, scores of people blocked a road in Thatta to demand more assistance. They complained that the scant supplies available were usually thrown from the backs of trucks, resulting in crowds of people fighting among themselves for food and water.
“The people who come here to give us food treat us like beggars,” an 80-year-old woman called Karima (who has just one name) told Associated Press. “They just throw the food. It is humiliating.” (more…)
Pakistan levee breach threatens historic city
Pakistani flood survivors have their meal at a roadside in Thatta near Hyderabad, Pakistan
Floodwaters broke through the levees protecting a southern Pakistani city again on Saturday, prompting more than 175,000 people to leave their homes in search of higher ground.
The evacuation of roughly 70 per cent of Thatta’s population began overnight after the latest levee breach, caused by the Indus river overflowing its banks in Sindh province.
The river is raging at 40 times its normal volume.
Many evacuees decided to camp out along the main road from Thatta while others kept moving in buses, cars, trucks and ox-drawn carts.
Taking shelter in graveyard
Thousands have headed for the high ground of an ancient graveyard for Muslim saints. The Makli Hill burial ground is not believed to be in danger of flooding.
The UN reports that around one million people have been displaced in Thatta and Qambar-Shadadkot districts since Wednesday because of floodwaters.
The floods began in the mountainous northwest about a month ago with the onset of monsoon rains and have moved slowly down the country toward the coast in the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and damaging or destroying more than one million homes.
More than eight million people are in need of emergency assistance across the country.
U.S. officials announce Friday they would be sending 18 more helicopters to Pakistan by mid-September to help with flood relief efforts. These aircraft will supplement a fleet of 15 choppers and three transport planes already in use.
UN Received Less Than Half Of Pakistan Flood Aid It Needs
Flood survivors in Pakistan are not only facing the threat of serious illness with a lack of doctors and medication, but food shortages as well, as the water has also washed away crops and submerged hundreds of thousands of hectares of fertile farm land.
The United Nations has so far received less than half of the $459 million in immediate aid funding it appealed for last week. Another $43 million has been promised. On Tuesday the World Bank announced it would redirect $900 million of its existing loans to Pakistan to assist in the flood recovery effort.
Canada has pledged up to $33 million.
Meanwhile, thousands of people await medical assistance, emergency shelter and food supplies and anger continues to grow over the government’s perceived sluggish response to the crisis. Aid agencies and the British government have complained the international community hasn’t stepped up to provide the money needed to help those in desperate need of basic life-saving necessities, including clean drinking water, food, emergency shelter and medicine.
The torrential downpours and the subsequent flooding has so far killed approximately 1,600 people and left as many as 20 million people in need of immediate assistance. The nation’s northwestern Sway Valley region has been hit particularly hard, where water has washed away entire villages and destroyed bridges and other key infrastructure, including hospitals and schools. Large swaths of the Punjab and Sindh provinces are also submerged.
Authorities warned Tuesday that the Indus River could burst its banks again.
Water-borne illness poses a great threat and the UN said cases of diarrhea are rising, increasing the risk of malnutrition.
Looting and protests over food shortages have also been reported in Punjab. The water washed away approximately 700,000 hectares of wheat, sugar cane and rice crops. Fruit crops have also been destroyed. Food prices have spiked since the flooding began more than three weeks ago.
