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| Destruction by rains and floods: More than one million people affected in 103 districts of Pakistan |
The monsoon of 2022 in Pakistan has been unusually long and destructive, causing flooding across the length of the country.
From Gilgit-Baltistan in the north of the country to Karachi in the south, the series of deaths and destruction has not stopped, and the government has not yet been able to estimate the financial loss caused by it.
According to the total data from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan since June 14, 649 deaths have occurred in two months and 103 districts of the country have been affected.
According to Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Balochistan province was the most affected by rains and floods, which according to him is a sign of climate change. On Wednesday, he said in a press conference that due to climate change, the areas which had less rain earlier, are now getting more rain.
In this report, an attempt has been made to find out which areas of Pakistan have been affected by floods and what damages have been caused in them. At the same time, an attempt has been made to find out from the relevant institutions what the situation will be in the coming days.
How much damage was done in which province?
At the national level, the NDMA has been periodically releasing damage data since June 14.
Looking at these figures, the province of Balochistan has been the most affected, where 27 districts and 360,000 people have been affected by the flood. There have been 207 deaths in Balochistan so far.
Talking about infrastructure in Balochistan, 23 thousand houses, 690 km long highways, 18 bridges and more than 100,000 cattle were affected.
On the other hand, 9 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been affected by floods to some extent, in which many floods have occurred due to rains so far.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 132 people have died, including 74 children, while 148 people have been injured. A total of 50,000 people were affected in the province, but the damage in terms of infrastructure was not as bad as in Balochistan. Six and a half kilometers of roads and seven bridges were affected while five thousand houses were partially or completely destroyed.
In Sindh, 17 districts have been affected by floods, 141 deaths including 66 children and around 500 people have been injured. Five and a half lakh people and more than 32 thousand houses were affected in the province. Talking about the damage to infrastructure, 33048 houses, 2100 km long roads have been affected, 45 bridges and 32 shops have also been affected.
141 deaths occurred in three districts in Punjab and 120,000 people were injured in total. More than twelve thousand houses, 33 km long roads were also affected in the province while seven bridges were damaged as per NDMA data.
On the other hand, a total of 38 deaths were reported in Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where around 10,000 people and 800 houses were affected in six and ten districts respectively.
It should be noted that according to the NDMA Chairman, this estimate of losses has been made on the basis of preliminary reports, which cannot be called final.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Chairman NDMA Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz said that NDMA and Pakistan Army will work with the federation and provinces to assess the damage.
What is the current situation in Balochistan?
According to PDMA Balochistan, the loss of life and property due to heavy rains continues to increase and the total number of people killed in the province has reached 207.
In Balochistan, 23117 houses have been damaged while 107377 cattle have been killed and crops standing on more than two lakh acres of land have also been damaged.
Balochistan is facing difficulties in transportation and communication with other provinces due to flooded railways.
The flow of traffic is suspended due to landslides on the Zhob Dana Sir highway between Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Deputy Commissioner Shirani Ejaz Ahmed Jafar told BBC Urdu's Muhammad Kazim that efforts are on to restore the highway while passengers trapped due to landslides were rescued and brought to Zhob.
On the other hand, the highway between Balochistan and Karachi has been closed once due to flooded rails in Lasbela.
The highway from Khuzdar to Sindh is also closed due to landslides at Vango, while the route from Balochistan to Punjab via Dera Ghazi Khan is cut off due to landslides at Fort Munro.
Sindh
Director General of Sindh Provincial Disaster Management Authority Salman Shah has told the BBC that there is a low-level flood situation at Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri, but according to the warning issued by the Meteorological Department, if the North-East and South of Balochistan If the rains intensify in the districts, flash floods may occur in Dadu, Jamshoro, Kambar Shahdadkot.
He said that the full estimate of the financial loss due to the flood has not been made at this time, but the agricultural land in the affected districts has suffered a lot of damage.
According to the data, about six and a half lakh acres of land were affected in the province, of which the majority are in Khairpur, Shaheed Benazirabad and Nowshehro Feroze districts.
Punjab
Director PDMA Punjab, Usman Khalid, while talking to BBC, said that currently there is a flood situation in Punjab only in Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur where the water is standing.
He said that earlier there was flood in Mianwali too but our operation there has been completed.
When he was asked if there is a risk of flooding in more areas of Punjab due to India's release of water in the Ravi, he replied that "Until now, India has not As much water as he had said did not come.
He said that there is low level flood in all our rivers but the situation is under control and there is no problem except in South Punjab.
When he was asked about the flood damage estimate in Punjab, he said that our survey teams have been formed but so far they could not go to these areas due to standing water.
We estimate that our teams will be able to start the survey from September 1.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa PDMA PDMA spokesperson Anwar Shahzad told BBC that there is no flood situation in any area of the province at the moment.
He said that nine districts were more affected in the monsoon season, including Swabi, Kirk, Dera Ismail Khan, Chitral, Deer Bala and Deer Zerin, besides Kohistan, Lucky Marwat and Tank, which suffered losses due to rain and flash floods.
He said that in the recent flash flood, Dera Ismail Khan, Chitral and Naran were affected but there was no loss of life or infrastructure.
Anwar Shahzad said that the survey teams in the affected districts are engaged in estimating the losses after which relief and compensation will be paid to the victims.
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