PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD – The worst monsoon floods and torrential rains have killed more than 800 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while a considerable number of people are still missing in various parts of the province.
Besides paralysing life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the floods have damaged infrastructure and 58 roads – which vitally connect various parts of the province – are still closed for any kind of traffic and certain areas have been turned into isolated lands.
About 4,000 people who were facing imminent threats to their lives have been rescued, however there are reports that thousands of people are still at higher risk. Floods created havoc in districts Nowshera, Charsadda, Mardan, Shangla, Dir upper and Lower, Swat, Kohat, Karak, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan where many villages have been swept away.
Rescue activities in Bisham, Kalam, Madian, Kanju, Kabal and Mingora are underway while, according to Government sources, the death toll in Swat has reached 151 whereas 158 people have lost their lives in Shangla. Five people were unfortunate enough to lose their lives when a life-saving boat capsized in Nowshera Kalan area.
As many as eight hotels and more than 300 houses were washed away in floodwaters in Kalam, Swat district. Not only this, all link roads and bridges were either destroyed or inundated. At least 26,758 people are still stranded in Kalam, the remote tourist spot in Swat district. Pak Army has launched a rescue operation to shift these people to safer places.
Provincial relief commissioner Shakil Qadir said the worst-hit area was Swat and Shangla as bridges had collapsed and road links been remained cut off rest of the province.
Although 26 foreigners were rescued in Daiber valley of Kohistan, yet thousands of people have been stranded for the last three days. The stranded people included more than 200 foreigners and their security personnel.
The DCO Kohat has informed that river flow at Khushhal Garh Bridge was still high. The bridge is closed for all sorts of traffic. In Kohat district, 39 people have so far been killed and 25 people got injured, while 305 cattle were swept away in floodwater.
The death toll in district Karak reached 17 on Saturday as two more children drowned in floodwaters. Though the damages occurred to the houses are outnumbering the Provincial GovernmentÂ’s figures, Information Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mian Iftikhar confirmed to TheNation that 576 houses were completely razed to the ground while 177 damaged partially.
It was informed further that 90 roads were substantively damaged across the province while 58 of them are still closed for all kinds of traffic. Besides the standing crops, almost all the infrastructure in the province including more than 250 liaison bridges, schools and other government installation were smashed by floods.
Agencies add: The worst monsoon floods in living memory have killed more than 800 people and affected over one million. Floods have killed over 800 people in a week, a government official said, as rescuers struggled to reach marooned victims on Saturday.
The flooding caused by record-breaking rainfalls caused massive destruction in the past week, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where officials said it was the worst deluge since 1929.
Floodwaters were believed to be receding in some sections, but it was difficult to get a complete picture. In Nowshera, scores of men, women and children sat on roofs in hopes of air or boat rescues.
“There are very bad conditions,” said Amjad Ali, a rescue worker in the area. “They have no water, no food.”
A doctor treating evacuees at a small relief camp in Nowshera said some had diarrhoea and others had marks appearing on their skin, causing itching. Children and the elderly seemed to have the most problems, Mehmood Jaa said.
“Due to the floodwater, they now have pain in their bodies and they are suffering from fever and cough,” Jaa told reporters.
Rescuers were using army helicopters, heavy trucks and boats to try reaching flood-hit areas, the UN said. It reported that thousands of homes and roads were destroyed, and at least 45 bridges across the northwest were damaged.
The destruction is slowing the rescue effort, said Luther Rehman, a KP government official.
“Our priority is to transport flood-affected people to safer places. We are carrying out this rescue operation despite limited resources,” he said, adding they needed more helicopters and boats.
The rivers bloated by monsoon rains have submerged thousands of villages, and inundated millions of acres agricultural land. Authorities say more than 100 people have been reported missing in KP. Hundreds of soldiers were deployed to assist in the areaÂ’s worst flooding since 1982.
Meanwhile, unprecedented flash floods have damaged a United Nations warehouse that is regarded the logistics hub of the international body in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Located at Pirpai, Nowshera, the same warehouse belongs to World Food Programme (WFP) and is one of the largest stockrooms the United Nations has in Pakistan, currently storing over 50,000 metric tons of food.
Most part of food and ration in the region was to be supplied to the flood affected IDPs from the particular depot and damage done to it would partially affect the circulation of edible items. The United Nations is now relying on alternative warehouses to ensure instant and unhindered supply of food items to Internally Displaced Persons.
Manuel Bessler, Head of UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Pakistan, when asked on Saturday, confirmed to this newspaper that the massive flash floods had damaged the UN’s warehouse. “Unfortunately, one of our warehouses has been damaged and efforts are underway to secure food items,” he added. “The water is ten feet above the surface at Pirpai. A mission has been sent to Nowshera to take preventive measures,” the UN official informed.
“UN has warehouses across Pakistan that are of significant help in the relief operations, we would use them as an alternate to ensure the provisions of unhindered relief operations,” Bessler said.
According to the diplomat, over 1 million people have been displaced by the flash floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 390 were reported causalities (till Saturday afternoon). Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, Changla, Swat and Lower Dir are some of the cities worst hit by the floods in KP. Around 150,000 families have been displaced in the province, 5 thousand each in Punjab and Balochistan, and related land routes are completely disrupted.
OCHA Pakistan’s Head also confirms that the country is currently being provided humanitarian assistance through Central Emergency Relief Funds (CERF) and if required, help would be sought from international community to assist Pakistan. The UN Headquarters administers the allocation of funds under CERF and the HQ is fully aware of the situation in Pakistan, he mentioned adding that mandatory focus of relief operations was on the provisions of shelter, food, health and sanitation. “The UN and international community stand by Pakistan’s side, all out efforts would be made to help the country meet this challenge,” Bessler added. Regarding calculations about required funds, Manuel Bessler said that the estimations were going on and funds requirements could be determined after thorough assessments.
Amjad Jamal, Spokesperson, WFP, Pakistan, said that two aerial attempts made to land at Pirpai remained unsuccessful on Saturday. “There’s some 5 to 6-metre high water logged above the surface and it’s impossible to land anywhere there,” he added. He said that wheat, flour, high-energy biscuits and vegetable oil were stored in the particular depot and damage assessments can only be ascertained after access to the depot is established.