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‘Third’ of Pakistan under water as flood aid efforts gather pace

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  • Rains that began in June unleash worst flooding in more than decade.
  • Authorities and charities struggle to accelerate aid delivery to more than 33 million people affected.
  • United Nations announces launch of formal $160 million appeal on to fund emergency aid.

SUKKUR: Aid efforts ramped up across flooded Pakistan on Tuesday to help tens of millions of people affected by relentless monsoon rains that have submerged a third of the country and claimed more than 1,100 lives.

The rains that began in June have unleashed the worst flooding in more than a decade, washing away swathes of vital crops and damaging or destroying more than a million homes.

Authorities and charities are struggling to accelerate aid delivery to more than 33 million people affected, a challenging task in areas cut off because roads and bridges have been washed away.

In the south and west, dry land is limited, with displaced people crammed onto elevated highways and railroad tracks to escape the flooded plains.

“We don’t even have space to cook food. We need help,” Rimsha Bibi, a schoolgirl in Dera Ghazi Khan in central Pakistan, told AFP.

Pakistan receives heavy — often destructive — rains during its annual monsoon season, which are crucial for agriculture and water supplies.

But such intense downpours have not been seen for three decades.

Pakistani officials have blamed climate change, which is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world.

“To see the devastation on the ground is really mind-boggling,” Pakistan´s climate change minister Sherry Rehman told AFP.

“When we send in water pumps, they say ´Where do we pump the water?´ It´s all one big ocean, there´s no dry land to pump the water out.”

She said “literally a third” of the country was under water, comparing scenes from the disaster to a dystopian movie.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said Pakistan needed more than $10 billion to repair and rebuild damaged infrastructure.

“Massive damage has been caused… especially in the areas of telecommunications, roads, agriculture and livelihoods,” he told AFP Tuesday.

The Indus River, which runs along the length of the South Asian nation, is threatening to burst its banks as torrents of water rush downstream from its tributaries in the north.

Pakistan as a whole had been deluged with twice the usual monsoon rainfall, the meteorological office said, but Balochistan and Sindh provinces had seen more than four times the average of the last three decades.

International help

The disaster could not have come at a worse time for Pakistan, where the economy is in free fall.

Appealing for international help, the government has declared an emergency.

Aid flights have arrived in recent days from Turkey and the UAE, while other nations including Canada, Australia and Japan have also pledged assistance.

The United Nations has announced it will launch a formal $160 million appeal on Tuesday to fund emergency aid.

Pakistan was already desperate for international support and the floods have compounded the challenge.

Prices of basic goods — particularly onions, tomatoes and chickpeas — are soaring as vendors bemoan a lack of supplies from the flooded breadbasket provinces of Sindh and Punjab.

There was some relief on Monday when the International Monetary Fund approved the revival of a loan programme for Pakistan, releasing an initial $1.1 billion.

Makeshift relief camps have sprung up all over Pakistan — in schools, on motorways and in military bases.

In the northwestern town of Nowshera, a technical college was turned into a shelter for up to 2,500 flood victims.

They sweltered in the summer heat with sporadic food aid and little access to water.

“I never thought that one day we will have to live like this,” said 60-year-old Malang Jan.

“We have lost our heaven and are now forced to live a miserable life.”Aid efforts ramped up across flooded Pakistan on Tuesday to help tens of millions of people affected by relentless monsoon rains that have submerged a third of the country and claimed more than 1,100 lives. The rains that began in June have unleashed the worst flooding in more than a decade, washing away swathes of vital crops and damaging or destroying more than a million homes.

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Forecast: rain and thunderstorms for Punjab, KP, and other regions of the nation

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In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir, Punjab, Islamabad, and north Balochistan, rain, windstorms, and thunderstorms are predicted by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

Over the next 24 hours, the Met Office predicts that there will be isolated areas of heavy rainfall in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kashmir, while dust storms are anticipated in the country’s southern regions.

In upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Murree, Galiyat, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, moderate to heavy rains may cause landslides and impact vulnerable areas between the evening of March 29 and the morning of March 30.

Lightning, hail, and windstorms can harm loose objects like solar panels, cars, power poles, and standing crops. It is essential that farmers and tourists exercise caution during this time.

The synoptic situation indicates that a westerly wave that is affecting the country’s western and upper regions is probably going to stay there through March 31.

Over the course of the previous day, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, north Balochistan, upper and central Punjab, Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan experienced rain, wind, and thunderstorms. In other regions of the nation, the weather was partly cloudy.

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Elections

Plans are being finalized for the April 2 Senate elections.

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As ballots are being printed, the final preparations are being made for the Senate elections that are set on April 2.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has sources that state that printing presses in Islamabad and Karachi are producing the ballot sheets.

According to the sources, ballots for the Senate elections are being printed in four different colors.

According to ECP officials, green ballot paper would be used for technocrat seats and white ballot paper for general seats.

Likewise, ballots for the minority and women’s seats would be yellow and pink, respectively.

On April 2, 48 Senate seats are up for election. The National Assembly and each of the four province assembly will host polling places.

In the meantime, the Punjab Assembly hall has been designated as a Senate election polling place. According to a notification from the Speaker, the polling would take place from 9 AM to 4 PM.

On April 2, voting for the seats reserved for women, minorities, and technocrats would take place in the Punjab Assembly polling place.

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The prime minister reorganizes the Common Interests Council.

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The Council of Common Interests has been reconfigured by Prime Minister Mian Shehbaz Sharif.

Additionally, the notification to this effect was released following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s consent.

The announcement states that the foreign minister, rather than the finance minister, has been included in the CCI for the first time in the nation’s history. Prime Minister Sharif will preside over the eight-member Council of Common Interests.

The announcement stated that the four chief ministers would be members of the CCI. Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister, has been admitted to the CCI.

The notification states that Safron Minister Engineer Amir Muqam and Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will also be on the CCI. Commencing on March 21, the Council of Common Interests has been constituted.


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