Predictions by Pakistan’s Meteorological Department of more rain in the days ahead have raised flood fears, especially in Sindh Province, as the monsoon season peaks.
“We suffered greatly in the floods last year. Now even dark clouds bring panic with them for all of us here,” said Ghulam Bibi, 40, in the Thatta District of Sindh Province, which was one of the worst affected regions in the devastating floods of 2010. Ghulam Bibi and her family, who lost all their livestock in the flood, are struggling to rebuild their lives.
“It is really tough because we depended on selling milk to earn a livelihood, and now we can’t as we lost our three buffaloes,” she said. The extended family of 12 is also scared by news of heavy rain in neighbouring Badin District, where a state of “calamity” was declared by the provincial chief minister on 13 August.
According to a briefing given by the National Disaster Management Authority to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, over 200,000 people have been affected in flood-hit areas in “interior Sindh”. Media quoted the authority as saying 100 villages were flooded in Badin after a breach in a major salinity drain widened to 65 metres. As a result of the flooding, people have in some cases been left marooned and had to be evacuated by Navy boats.
There have also been media reports of food shortages, the spread of disease and the widespread destruction of crops.
“Our rice crop has been completely destroyed. We have no livelihood left and the only help we have received is from other local people,” Allah Dad, 50, a farmer, told IRIN from a Badin village.
Punjab also affected
Sindh is not the only province affected. Flooding of the Sutlej river has inundated several villages in Kasur District, Punjab Province.
“We are setting up relief centres in eight locations and making all other arrangements to help the affected people,” Syed Arshad Hussain, the district coordination officer for Kasur, told IRIN. He also said an assessment of needs was under way.
However, while district authorities have been asking people to move to safer locations, farmers are reluctant to do so. “We cannot simply leave our homes, our lands, our livestock, our tractors and machinery and move away. Besides, where is there for us to go? We have been told nothing about relief camps yet,” Abdul Jabbar, a farmer, said.
There is also a flood threat in other areas of Punjab, where several drainage channels have overflowed. Punjab Natural Disaster Management Authority head Khalid Sher told IRIN an emergency has been declared in parts of Sialkot District, while agricultural land had been flooded in the Daska administrative unit of the district.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast monsoon rains 10 percent higher than normal in northern parts of the country, including Upper Punjab.
While on a visit to Badin District, the prime minister said tents, agricultural loans and assistance in other forms would be offered to flood-hit people in Sindh.
However for the moment, things on the ground seem grim. “We are in a miserable condition,” Hafeez Ahmed, a local resident told IRIN in Badin.
A district official who asked not to be named told IRIN: “We believe the bigger relief agencies will be called in soon. But right now, things seem quite dismal - especially as memories of last year are still fresh in people’s minds.”
Aid agencies say they are on standby after sustained rains reportedly affected up to 750,000 people in Punjab and Sindh provinces, killing up to 25 and displacing some 50,000 others, according to an informal assessment by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in some areas.
According to the Pakistan Security Brief – August 16, 2011, “more than one million people have been affected by recent flooding in Sindh. Over 123 flood relief camps have so far been set up to deal with the displaced. Dawn reports that one camp set up was staged in order to provide a platform for a media appearance by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.”
kh/eo/cb
“We suffered greatly in the floods last year. Now even dark clouds bring panic with them for all of us here,” said Ghulam Bibi, 40, in the Thatta District of Sindh Province, which was one of the worst affected regions in the devastating floods of 2010. Ghulam Bibi and her family, who lost all their livestock in the flood, are struggling to rebuild their lives.
“It is really tough because we depended on selling milk to earn a livelihood, and now we can’t as we lost our three buffaloes,” she said. The extended family of 12 is also scared by news of heavy rain in neighbouring Badin District, where a state of “calamity” was declared by the provincial chief minister on 13 August.
According to a briefing given by the National Disaster Management Authority to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, over 200,000 people have been affected in flood-hit areas in “interior Sindh”. Media quoted the authority as saying 100 villages were flooded in Badin after a breach in a major salinity drain widened to 65 metres. As a result of the flooding, people have in some cases been left marooned and had to be evacuated by Navy boats.
There have also been media reports of food shortages, the spread of disease and the widespread destruction of crops.
“Our rice crop has been completely destroyed. We have no livelihood left and the only help we have received is from other local people,” Allah Dad, 50, a farmer, told IRIN from a Badin village.
Punjab also affected
Sindh is not the only province affected. Flooding of the Sutlej river has inundated several villages in Kasur District, Punjab Province.
“We are setting up relief centres in eight locations and making all other arrangements to help the affected people,” Syed Arshad Hussain, the district coordination officer for Kasur, told IRIN. He also said an assessment of needs was under way.
However, while district authorities have been asking people to move to safer locations, farmers are reluctant to do so. “We cannot simply leave our homes, our lands, our livestock, our tractors and machinery and move away. Besides, where is there for us to go? We have been told nothing about relief camps yet,” Abdul Jabbar, a farmer, said.
There is also a flood threat in other areas of Punjab, where several drainage channels have overflowed. Punjab Natural Disaster Management Authority head Khalid Sher told IRIN an emergency has been declared in parts of Sialkot District, while agricultural land had been flooded in the Daska administrative unit of the district.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department has forecast monsoon rains 10 percent higher than normal in northern parts of the country, including Upper Punjab.
While on a visit to Badin District, the prime minister said tents, agricultural loans and assistance in other forms would be offered to flood-hit people in Sindh.
However for the moment, things on the ground seem grim. “We are in a miserable condition,” Hafeez Ahmed, a local resident told IRIN in Badin.
A district official who asked not to be named told IRIN: “We believe the bigger relief agencies will be called in soon. But right now, things seem quite dismal - especially as memories of last year are still fresh in people’s minds.”
Aid agencies say they are on standby after sustained rains reportedly affected up to 750,000 people in Punjab and Sindh provinces, killing up to 25 and displacing some 50,000 others, according to an informal assessment by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in some areas.
According to the Pakistan Security Brief – August 16, 2011, “more than one million people have been affected by recent flooding in Sindh. Over 123 flood relief camps have so far been set up to deal with the displaced. Dawn reports that one camp set up was staged in order to provide a platform for a media appearance by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.”
kh/eo/cb
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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