Islamabad, Aug 30 (PTI) Grappling with unprecedented floods, the cash-strapped Pakistan government on Tuesday teamed up with the United Nations to issue a flash appeal for USD 160 million to deal with the disaster that has displaced over 33 million people in the country that has become the “ground zero” of global warming.
The country-wide death toll has touched 1,136 as of Monday, with over 1,634 injured and 33 million displaced, according to the latest data issued by the National Disaster Management Authority, the chief national body tasked to deal with calamities.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Tuesday that the country would need more than USD 10 billion to rebuild the infrastructure devastated by the raging floods, which roughly translates to 3 per cent of the country’s GDP.
During a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, it was decided to form a National Flood Response and Coordination Centre to provide proper institutional response to the calamity, which will comprise federal ministers, representatives of armed forces, chief ministers and experts.
“The Centre will serve as a bridge between disaster management authorities, donors and government institutions. It will collect and analyse latest information and pass it on to the relevant government agencies. It will also oversee rescue and relief work including restoration of infrastructure, the PM Office tweeted after the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan government and the United Nations jointly issued a flash appeal for USD 160 million to help the country deal with the catastrophic floods.
“Pakistan is awash in suffering,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a video message. “The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids – the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding.”
He said the funds will provide 5.2 million people with food, water, sanitation, emergency education, protection and health support.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari urged the global community to extend support to Pakistan and said that the devastation witnessed showed that the country had become ground zero of global warming, the biggest existential threat of this century, according to Foreign Office.
“The current cycle of super flooding we see today is part of extreme weather patterns. Unprecedented levels of cloud bursts and torrential rains have triggered widespread devastation, urban flooding, river floods and landslides, resulting in the loss of human life, livelihoods and livestock, Bilawal said.
He described this year’s “super floods” as a “climate calamity”, adding that “what we are facing today has been no above average monsoon.”
The minister said 72 districts were declared calamity-hit, over 33 million people were affected – which is the size of a small country.
“Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced and forced to spend days and nights under a merciless sky and [the] lack of access to food, water and shelter are making life harder with each passing day, he lamented.
He said the government had earmarked USD 173 million to help flood-hit people through direct cash transfers, while Rs5 billion (USD 23 million) had been allocated to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for relief activities.
“The government is also providing Rs 1 million (USD 4,615) in ex-gratia compensation to the next of kin of each deceased; Rs250,000 (USD 1,154) for injuries and partially damaged houses; and Rs500,000 (USD 2,308) for destroyed houses,” he said.
The launch event was attended by all UN Member States as well as various UN agencies and humanitarian organizations working in the area of disaster relief. The FRP is expected to complement the Government’s overall humanitarian response to the recent floods caused by unprecedented rains in Pakistan.
Meanwhile, former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan held an international telethon through which he raised Rs 5 billion in funds for the flood-affected people.
“The entire country has been affected by this [flood] as per initial assessment, losses of over Rs 1,000 billion were incurred due to floods and over 1,000 people have died so far, Khan said.
He said he received a lot of calls from Pakistanis, including expats who wanted to help the flood victims. The former premier said people can donate to two bank accounts opened by the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governments.
The funds will be spent to help the flood-hit people across the country, he assured.
Meanwhile, aid continued to pour in as Canada announced aid worth USD 5 million, while the Chinese government has pledged 100 million yuan to the Pakistan government.
After Queen Elizabeth, her son Prince Charles on Monday extended his heartfelt condolences.
In a message to the President of Pakistan, Prince Charles said, My wife and I are deeply saddened by the devastation caused by the recent floods in Pakistan. Our hearts go out to all the victims and their loved ones and to the millions of people who have lost property and their livelihoods.
Heavy water flow downstream from the rivers in the north is threatening to burst the banks of the Indus river in Sindh province, the Express Tribune newspaper reported.
Sindh province continues to reel under the onslaught of torrential rains as acres of fertile farmlands have been washed away, suffering damages to the tune of USD 1.6 billion, according to the Dawn newspaper.