According to the update from an International Medical Corps received on Friday the torrential rains have killed over 900 people across Pakistan since late June. The climate change worsened the conditions in the country.
More than two million people have been evacuated in Pakistan’s Punjab province as floods sweep the country’s eastern region, authorities have said.
Another 150,000 have been evacuated in Sindh province, national disaster management chief Inam Haider Malik told reporters on Thursday, warning that the “number may rise over the coming days.”
According to the update from an International Medical Corps received on Friday the torrential rains have killed over 900 people across Pakistan since late June. The climate change worsened the conditions in the country.
Heavy rains, disastrous climatic change caused the rivers to overflow. However, a group of people as well state the authorities responsible for the disaster. They mention the government’s negligence as they did not invest sufficiently in disaster management.
The floods, which have destroyed larges swathes of farms and houses, are devastating for residents in Pakistan, 40% of whom live below the poverty line.
Many families chose to stay home to protect their property despite flood risks, residents in Punjab’s flood-stricken areas told the BBC last month.
Rescuers had to go door-to-door to relocate villagers and their livestock by boats – but this method also comes with risks of its own, as the small boats are forced to contend with strong currents.
Nine people died on Tuesday after a rescue boat carrying flood victims capsized in the Indus River. Days earlier, five people died in a similar incident on the outskirts of Jalalpur Pirwala city.
This was not only the condition of Pakistan. However, neighbouring country India as well is under the flood hit. Several killed and affected were reported under the conditions.
Notably, the Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority claims that they have delivered the needful to the flooded Punjab. These include relief supplies including food, blankets and more.
Reports suggest that it would take weeks for the water to dry before they could start “rehabilitation work” on thousands of villages and fields.
This week, the UN allocated $5m to support Pakistan’s flood response, while the US State Department approved funding and deployed disaster response personnel – the first assistance of its kind during Trump’s second term.
Amid the latest wave of floods, Pakistani authorities this week declared a climate emergency. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also ordered officials to come up with a 300-day plan to address challenges posed by climate change.
