ISLAMABAD: At least 37 people were killed and 92 injured in flood-related incidents in Pakistan in the last 24 hours.
Provincial administration reported a drop in water levels and a massive outbreak of water-borne diseases in Sindh, the southern province of the nation, where all floodwaters flowing downstream have converged ahead of merging into the Arabian Sea.
Officials said the recent catastrophic floods, caused by record monsoon rains in south and southwestern Pakistan and glaciers melting in the country’s north, will wipe out economic growth and cause acute food shortages in the cash-starved country, threatening to push it into further economic and political chaos.
The flooding has affected 3.3 crore people, swept away homes, hotels, markets, crops, bridges, roads, and livestock.
Government officials said the deluge has caused an estimated $30 billion in damages. The figure has tripled from an early estimate of $10 billion last month and officials fear it may rise further.
The IMF forecast economic growth of 3.5% for the current fiscal year before the floods hit Pakistan. The government now estimates that the disaster would leave the country with zero or negative growth this year.
In its daily situation report on Saturday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that with 37 more casualties, the cumulative number of deaths since mid-June has climbed to 1,545. The number of injured in the floods, according to the report, has risen to 12,850 during this period.
As floodwaters recede, the affected Sindh districts have become infested with infectious and water-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea, and skin problems.
“Stagnant water is giving rise to water-borne diseases, as millions of people are living under the open sky,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in his recent address to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
In its latest report, the Sindh government said more than 90,000 people were treated for multiple diseases on Thursday alone in the province.
Abdullah Fadil, representative of the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (Unicef), said that the “super floods” have impacted an estimated 1.6 crore children and at least 34 lakh girls and boys remain in need of immediate lifesaving support.
As Pakistan plans to push for compensation from richer countries at multilateral gatherings, including the forthcoming UN General Assembly session and the climate change summit in November, the government has decided to divert some $1.5-billion, half of its budget for development projects this fiscal year, to flood victims.
Finance minister Miftah Ismail said the provinces may be able to divert an additional $2 billion from their budgets.
It is uncertain how far the provincial governments will cooperate with the federal government, as two of the country’s provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where two-third of the country’s population live, are governed by the opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. Its chief, Imran Khan, was ousted as prime minister through a vote of no-confidence in Parliament in April this year.
Since his ouster, Khan has been aggressively campaigning to topple the current government.
Provincial administration reported a drop in water levels and a massive outbreak of water-borne diseases in Sindh, the southern province of the nation, where all floodwaters flowing downstream have converged ahead of merging into the Arabian Sea.
Officials said the recent catastrophic floods, caused by record monsoon rains in south and southwestern Pakistan and glaciers melting in the country’s north, will wipe out economic growth and cause acute food shortages in the cash-starved country, threatening to push it into further economic and political chaos.
The flooding has affected 3.3 crore people, swept away homes, hotels, markets, crops, bridges, roads, and livestock.
Government officials said the deluge has caused an estimated $30 billion in damages. The figure has tripled from an early estimate of $10 billion last month and officials fear it may rise further.
The IMF forecast economic growth of 3.5% for the current fiscal year before the floods hit Pakistan. The government now estimates that the disaster would leave the country with zero or negative growth this year.
In its daily situation report on Saturday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said that with 37 more casualties, the cumulative number of deaths since mid-June has climbed to 1,545. The number of injured in the floods, according to the report, has risen to 12,850 during this period.
As floodwaters recede, the affected Sindh districts have become infested with infectious and water-borne diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea, and skin problems.
“Stagnant water is giving rise to water-borne diseases, as millions of people are living under the open sky,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in his recent address to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
In its latest report, the Sindh government said more than 90,000 people were treated for multiple diseases on Thursday alone in the province.
Abdullah Fadil, representative of the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (Unicef), said that the “super floods” have impacted an estimated 1.6 crore children and at least 34 lakh girls and boys remain in need of immediate lifesaving support.
As Pakistan plans to push for compensation from richer countries at multilateral gatherings, including the forthcoming UN General Assembly session and the climate change summit in November, the government has decided to divert some $1.5-billion, half of its budget for development projects this fiscal year, to flood victims.
Finance minister Miftah Ismail said the provinces may be able to divert an additional $2 billion from their budgets.
It is uncertain how far the provincial governments will cooperate with the federal government, as two of the country’s provinces, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where two-third of the country’s population live, are governed by the opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. Its chief, Imran Khan, was ousted as prime minister through a vote of no-confidence in Parliament in April this year.
Since his ouster, Khan has been aggressively campaigning to topple the current government.
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