Relief efforts continue as death toll passes 400

Efforts to provide humanitarian relief to flood-affected victims in Pakistan continued on Sunday after two weeks of heavy rains and snowfall across the country resulted in more than 400 deaths. Nearly 2,000 people were still reported missing and thousands more badly in need of assistance and shelter, officials told IRIN. In addition to floods, avalanches and landslides have caused substantial damage to roads, communications and the electricity service in the southern province of Balochistan, the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), the federally administered Northern Areas and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. BALOCHISTAN According to the latest situation report by the UN Disaster Management Team (UNDMT), two more dams in Balochistan's southern coastal district of Gawadar, located in the sub-districts of Pasni and Turbat, burst over the weekend after heavy rains in the area. Six villages with a population of more than 3,000 were completely inundated. More than two weeks of bad weather have badly affected the districts of Gawadar, Kech, Panjgoor, Lasbela, Awaran, Khuzdar, Pishin, Naseerabad and Jaffarabad in southern Balochistan, where more than 170 people were reported killed after the Shadi Khore dam burst on Thursday. At least 1,500 are reported missing in the area. Relief efforts by the army, navy, civil administration and local charities were continuing on a large scale along the coastal belt. However, reports of food and drinking water shortages, along with those of shelter and medical supplies, were still being received from several remote areas of the province. Helicopters from Pakistan's coast guard were still being used to evacuate people stranded along the Hingol and Bisol rivers, the seasonal rivers of the province, according to a press statement by Pakistan's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate, on Sunday. The Pakistani armed forces have established a tent village and medical camps in the Turbat area of Gawadar district. "Many bridges have been washed away by flash floods and torrential rains causing massive destruction and damage to mud-houses and small earthen dams built on a self-help basis by the communities," said the UNDMT report. Meanwhile, people in several areas were still trapped in floodwaters, without access to food or a clean water supply, the Dubai-based Geo TV reported on Sunday. NWFP In the NWFP, the avalanches and heavy rains in mountainous areas of Kohistan, Swat, Dir, Chitral, Mansehra, Battagram, Abbottabad, Malakand and Hangu districts claimed nearly 200 lives, while scores more were reportedly still buried under rock, mud and debris. "More than 5,000 houses have reportedly collapsed or were badly damaged in various districts. Many parts are still inaccessible, as the road network and communications systems have been badly disrupted in the upper northern region," Ghias-ud-Din, an official of the provincial relief cell, told IRIN from the NWFP capital, Peshawar. On Sunday, Akram Durrani, NWFP's chief minister, appealed to the federal government to support their efforts, noting the province's limited resources to cope. PAKISTAN-ADMINISTERED KASHMIR The death toll rose to 58 in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Sunday with reports of several homes in the Neelam and Leepa valleys still buried by snow after a series of avalanches struck the area. "The relief operation is severely hampered by bad weather, as the roads are blocked due to landslides and helicopters are unable to fly to the region because of bad weather," Raja Ghulam Sarwar, a senior police officer from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told IRIN. Meanwhile, the northern parts of Balochistan province have come under a fresh spell of rains expected to last for the next three days with more snowfall over the northern mountain range predicted, according to the country's meteorological department. "Rescue teams should accelerate their efforts to provide the flood-affected people with shelter and proper food supplies, as a severe cold wave following the wet spell would create more difficulties for those lying under the open sky," the head of the national meteorological department, Chaudhry Qamar-uz-Zaman, said. Some 60 people have reportedly been killed elsewhere in Pakistan since the cold and rainy spell started earlier this month. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Thursday visited the flood-affected coastal areas of Balochistan and announced a relief package of cash compensation of about US $1,700 to affected families. A 40 km portion of the recently completed 700 km-long Makran coastal highway, linking Balochistan's coastline with the southern port city of Karachi, has been severely damaged, while another 250 km stretch has been partially damaged. According to the national highway authorities, the road could be open to traffic in about two weeks after necessary repairs were made. The UN agencies in Pakistan on Sunday pledged $100,000 as immediate initial support to the national relief efforts. As an immediate step, the UN children's agency (UNICEF) is rushing a truckload of relief items, including emergency food rations and clean drinking water, said a press statement by the office of the UN Resident Coordinator.