More than a million homes were damaged. Almost 3,500 kilometers of roads were destroyed and about 160 bridges collapsed.
According to estimates by the Ministry of Planning, the damage to the Pakistani economy amounts to around ten billion dollars (approximately ten billion euros). The South Asian country with around 220 million inhabitants has been suffering from unusually heavy monsoon rains since mid-June. The Balochistan region in the southwest is particularly affected. But the north-west of Pakistan is now also struggling with major damage due to the floods. Natural disasters such as floods, droughts and landslides have increased in Pakistan in recent years. Experts attribute this to climate change.
Last Thursday, the government in Islamabad declared a state of emergency and asked for international help to deal with the disaster. A total of more than 33 million people are affected by the floods.
The United Nations, together with the government of Pakistan, presented an initial aid plan for six months in Geneva on Tuesday. For this, 116 million dollars (116.16 million euros) are needed, as the spokesman for the UNO Emergency Relief Office (OCHA), Jens Laerke, said. It was the worst flooding in Pakistan in decades. The authorities assume that the heavy rains that have lasted since June will continue.
The relief plan includes medical assistance. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this involves injuries such as debris and debris swept away by the water masses, electric shocks, torn cables and infections such as cholera, which spread if sewage contaminated with faeces is not disposed of properly. Chronically ill people such as diabetics and pregnant women would also have to continue to be cared for in an emergency. Almost 900 health facilities were destroyed or damaged. Pakistan had many malnourished children even before the floods, the children’s charity UNICEF reported. They need special support now.
“We have to join forces, because the people in Pakistan are dependent on outside help,” stressed Andreas Knapp, Secretary General of Caritas Austria for Foreign Aid, on Tuesday. One is active at several locations in all provinces. The distribution of food packages and tents, as well as medical first aid, have top priority at the moment.
In a broadcast, Diakonie Austria emphasized that its partners in Pakistan are currently analyzing the need for help. “It is already clear that our local helpers will immediately provide emergency accommodation and distribute clean drinking water and food in the particularly affected south-east of the country, in the Sindh region,” explained Diakonie Director Maria Katharina Moser.
Source: Nachrichten
