Agencies bring flood relief

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is preparing to distribute 7,850 food packs to flood affected communities in northern Pakistan, where heavy flooding over the past four weeks has displaced 10,000 people and an estimated 45,000 are in immediate need of food support. "We are coordinating with Islamic Relief (IR) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to distribute food supplies amongst Pakistani as well Afghan refugee families in three badly flood hit districts of Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsadda in NWFP [North West Frontier Province] and also in northern areas," WFP's Sahib-e-Haq said in Islamabad on Wednesday. Heavy winter snowfall followed by abnormally high temperatures in June and July caused massive flooding across Pakistan's northern region. According to the NWFP relief department, 1,100 homes were washed away and a further 1,800 were damaged, while more than 33,000 hectares of crops were lost in seven districts. The NWFP provincial government earlier this month appealed to donors and UN organisations to provide relief and rehabilitation to the flood-affected population. "Some 1,780 food packs - each of 50 kg wheat flour, 10 kg pulses and 5 kg oil - will be distributed to 335 Afghan refugees families and 1,445 Pakistani families in Charsadda district," Shafeeq-ur-Rehman, coordinator of relief activities for IR said in Islamabad. Earlier this month, IR distributed nearly 1,000 packs of animal fodder, weighing 135 kg each, among needy families in Peshawar, Nowshera and Charsadda districts. IRC will also distribute WFP food to some 5,220 families, including 1,995 Afghan refugees in Peshawar and Nowshera districts. "The distribution would start early next week," Suleman Khan, the manager of the emergency relief programme, said from NWFP provincial capital, Peshawar. The UN Children's Fund has also dispatched relief packages containing non-food items including hygiene kits and water purifying tablets. Meanwhile, the UN World Health Organization has provided three new emergency health kits to benefit some 30,000 people for three months. Alongside government bodies, several international as well as national charities and development agencies are extending emergency relief support to the flood-hit communities in NWFP. However, according to humanitarian workers dealing with the immediate concern of provision of food, clean drinking water, health, shelter and livestock fodder, the long term rehabilitation of displaced and affected populations needs to be addressed.