fawwaxs
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Massive floods across Pakistan | Thousands Killed
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fawwaxs
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UN chief Ban Ki-moon flew into Pakistan on Sunday to visit areas ravaged by floods and urged the world to speed up aid for up to 20 million people hit by the country's worst humanitarian disaster. The United Nations has appealed for 460 million dollars to deal with the immediate aftermath of the floods but has warned that billions will be required in the long-term with villages, businesses, crops and infrastructure wiped out. The government has appealed to the international community to help cope with the challenges of a crisis that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has compared to the 1947 partition of the sub-continent. Officials estimate that around a quarter of Pakistan appears to have been affected by the flooding. The UN estimates that 14 million have been affected and that 1,600 have died. The government has confirmed 1,384 deaths.
mshoaib61
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What explains the tight-fisted response to the Pakistan floods
Compare and contrast: within days of the 2004 tsunami, £100m had poured into Oxfam, the Red Cross and other charities, and by February 2005 when the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) closed its appeal, the total stood at £300m. The Haiti earthquake appeal closed with donations of £101m. The DEC total for the Pakistan floods appeal has just reached £10m. .
The reasons for this disparity aren't complex. There has been a slow steady drip of negative media coverage of Pakistan since the 1980s, and if it lessened a little in the 90s as civilian governments went in and out of administration, it became inevitably tougher with the return of a military government, 9/11, the "growth" of Islamic extremist organisations in Pakistan, and the ins and outs of apparent ISI-sponsored terrorism in both Mumbai and Afghanistan. At home, Pakistan's image has been affected by debates about burqas, the bombings in London in 2005 and the country's perennial linguistic association with "terror".
British readers and viewers know little of Pakistan and – with the exception of writers such as the Guardian's Declan Walsh and Saeed Shah, as well as Aleem Maqbool, who has given sensitive coverage for the BBC in Islamabad, and exemplary analysis and comment on the BBC World Service by Owen Bennett-Jones and Lyse Doucet – reporting of the country is poor and superficial.
BBC News online is not exempt from criticism. In its old format, the BBC online South Asia site had always run features and good news stories about India, but Pakistan coverage was pretty much limited to bombings, violence and hardship. This is despite the fact that "India Shining" has a huge population of citizens living in poverty – see Chris Morris's shocking report in May for the BBC – and that hunger and neglect by government is the daily lot of 35% of the population – or 450 million people.
India also has its own homegrown insurgency. The Naxalite/Maoist "terrorists" in the north-east are a dangerous challenge to Indian stability, but this extremism – and its causes, which lie in poverty – escapes international censure. In July the UN index showed that there are more people in poverty in eight states of India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. There are finally suggestions in the press that the responsibility for lack of resolution of conflict in Kashmir over 60 years at present lies more firmly with India.
Back in the UK, the communities of Pakistan descent, a large proportion of Mirpuri origin, have behaved in an exemplary fashion over the last decade. When David Miliband commented in the Guardian, at the time of the incoming Obama administration, that the "war on terror" had been a mistake, I wrote to him to say that as he well knew, the "war on terror" had been a gross and disingenuous overstatement and that British citizens were tens of thousands of times more likely to die from car accidents, alcohol, obesity and heart disease than from terror attacks.
Young Britons of Pakistani origin do not in general compound NHS hospital bills with alcohol abuse, knife crime (with a starting cost of £8,000 per patient to the NHS), nor go in for epidemics of petty crime, nor swallow the state's funds in out-of-work benefits and housing benefits. The majority live in remarkably settled and productive communities. Family life is taken very seriously and the success of efforts within communities to help young people through difficult pressures of the culture and politics of faith both external and internal to their communities are frankly miraculous.
For this they have to put up with an unending diet of "terror", "extremist" and anti-burqa rants from the press, while seeing their grandparents' and parents' home country torn often apart in foreign policy analysis. The most unnecessary headline the Evening Standard has run (quite a competitive field) was "What Londoners think of Muslims" (14 November 2007). It was beyond reason and beyond taste and had it been phrased differently – what Londoners think of Jews, or perhaps even what they think of Catholics, it would have been referred straight to the Press Complaints Commission.
In April I went to hear Ali Sethi, Kamila Shamsie and Moni Mohsin, writers well known in Pakistan, speak at the National Portrait Gallery. If they were dismayed at the coverage and levels of ignorance about their country, such dismay was expressed with humour and warmth. Moni Mohsin, particularly, told how on a recent visit to Lahore in February, while at the hairdressers and with some bombing recently in the city, her two stylists were chattering away above her head about the real worry, that it was Valentine's Day and you could not find little gold hearts anywhere but anywhere, as they had sold out in all the shops and bazaars.
Pakistanis are subcontinental people, and are in many ways similar to their neighbours in India. They share cultural ties, history and – a personal view here – a great warmth of character that is unique to this part of the world. We are spectators to the difficulties that the subcontinent and particularly Pakistan is going through, but we could perhaps wonder at the wretched and unfounded image of Pakistan when viewed through the lens of the British media. And perhaps not be so surprised that having swallowed this over many years, the public find it hard to overcome their misgivings and to give.
What explains the tight-fisted response to the Pakistan floods | Catriona Luke | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Compare and contrast: within days of the 2004 tsunami, £100m had poured into Oxfam, the Red Cross and other charities, and by February 2005 when the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) closed its appeal, the total stood at £300m. The Haiti earthquake appeal closed with donations of £101m. The DEC total for the Pakistan floods appeal has just reached £10m. .
The reasons for this disparity aren't complex. There has been a slow steady drip of negative media coverage of Pakistan since the 1980s, and if it lessened a little in the 90s as civilian governments went in and out of administration, it became inevitably tougher with the return of a military government, 9/11, the "growth" of Islamic extremist organisations in Pakistan, and the ins and outs of apparent ISI-sponsored terrorism in both Mumbai and Afghanistan. At home, Pakistan's image has been affected by debates about burqas, the bombings in London in 2005 and the country's perennial linguistic association with "terror".
British readers and viewers know little of Pakistan and – with the exception of writers such as the Guardian's Declan Walsh and Saeed Shah, as well as Aleem Maqbool, who has given sensitive coverage for the BBC in Islamabad, and exemplary analysis and comment on the BBC World Service by Owen Bennett-Jones and Lyse Doucet – reporting of the country is poor and superficial.
BBC News online is not exempt from criticism. In its old format, the BBC online South Asia site had always run features and good news stories about India, but Pakistan coverage was pretty much limited to bombings, violence and hardship. This is despite the fact that "India Shining" has a huge population of citizens living in poverty – see Chris Morris's shocking report in May for the BBC – and that hunger and neglect by government is the daily lot of 35% of the population – or 450 million people.
India also has its own homegrown insurgency. The Naxalite/Maoist "terrorists" in the north-east are a dangerous challenge to Indian stability, but this extremism – and its causes, which lie in poverty – escapes international censure. In July the UN index showed that there are more people in poverty in eight states of India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. There are finally suggestions in the press that the responsibility for lack of resolution of conflict in Kashmir over 60 years at present lies more firmly with India.
Back in the UK, the communities of Pakistan descent, a large proportion of Mirpuri origin, have behaved in an exemplary fashion over the last decade. When David Miliband commented in the Guardian, at the time of the incoming Obama administration, that the "war on terror" had been a mistake, I wrote to him to say that as he well knew, the "war on terror" had been a gross and disingenuous overstatement and that British citizens were tens of thousands of times more likely to die from car accidents, alcohol, obesity and heart disease than from terror attacks.
Young Britons of Pakistani origin do not in general compound NHS hospital bills with alcohol abuse, knife crime (with a starting cost of £8,000 per patient to the NHS), nor go in for epidemics of petty crime, nor swallow the state's funds in out-of-work benefits and housing benefits. The majority live in remarkably settled and productive communities. Family life is taken very seriously and the success of efforts within communities to help young people through difficult pressures of the culture and politics of faith both external and internal to their communities are frankly miraculous.
For this they have to put up with an unending diet of "terror", "extremist" and anti-burqa rants from the press, while seeing their grandparents' and parents' home country torn often apart in foreign policy analysis. The most unnecessary headline the Evening Standard has run (quite a competitive field) was "What Londoners think of Muslims" (14 November 2007). It was beyond reason and beyond taste and had it been phrased differently – what Londoners think of Jews, or perhaps even what they think of Catholics, it would have been referred straight to the Press Complaints Commission.
In April I went to hear Ali Sethi, Kamila Shamsie and Moni Mohsin, writers well known in Pakistan, speak at the National Portrait Gallery. If they were dismayed at the coverage and levels of ignorance about their country, such dismay was expressed with humour and warmth. Moni Mohsin, particularly, told how on a recent visit to Lahore in February, while at the hairdressers and with some bombing recently in the city, her two stylists were chattering away above her head about the real worry, that it was Valentine's Day and you could not find little gold hearts anywhere but anywhere, as they had sold out in all the shops and bazaars.
Pakistanis are subcontinental people, and are in many ways similar to their neighbours in India. They share cultural ties, history and – a personal view here – a great warmth of character that is unique to this part of the world. We are spectators to the difficulties that the subcontinent and particularly Pakistan is going through, but we could perhaps wonder at the wretched and unfounded image of Pakistan when viewed through the lens of the British media. And perhaps not be so surprised that having swallowed this over many years, the public find it hard to overcome their misgivings and to give.
What explains the tight-fisted response to the Pakistan floods | Catriona Luke | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Devil Soul
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Misery For The 'Doomed Orphans' Of Pakistan Floods
NOWSHEHRA, Pakistan, Aug 16, 2010 (AFP) - Six million children are suffering from Pakistan's devastating floods: lost, orphaned or stricken with diarrhoea, they are the most vulnerable victims of the nation's worst-ever natural disaster.
At relief camps in government schools and colleges and in tent villages on the edge of towns and by roadways, children are prostate from the heat, sick from poor drinking water, or simply trying to find work.
"These are the most bitter days of my life," said Iltaz Begum, 15, suffering from diarrhoea and stretched out in a government tent on the muddy outskirts of the northwestern town of Nowshehra.
"The weather has made our lives miserable. I had to leave my blind mother behind and there's no one to look after her as my father died two years ago."
The tent village has no electricity. The rains have gone, but only to be replaced by heat and humidity. Flies buzz everywhere and the smell of faeces wafts through the camp.
Girls like Iltaz are just a drop in the ocean for the massive relief effort that the international community is trying to mobilise in one of the biggest ever UN aid operations.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said millions had lost their livelihoods as he visited Pakistan on Sunday and witnessed "heart wrenching" scenes of destruction. Pakistan says 20 million people have been hit by the floods.
"Many have lost families and friends. Many more are afraid their children and loved ones will not survive in these conditions," said Ban.
Sami Abdul Malik, spokesman for the UN children's fund UNICEF, said six million children were affected by the floods. The fund is distributing high-energy biscuits to stave off malnutrition and other diseases.
"Currently we are in a life-saving phase," he told AFP. "We are distributing high energy biscuits because malnutrition is a curse. It can lead to several other diseases.
"Children are always vulnerable. They cannot control their thirst, they will drink any type of water and may get watery diarrhoea, cholera, malaria and other diseases."
On top of all this are the trauma and psychological problems faced by those who have been orphaned or separated from parents.
In the south, people fleeing flooded homes have headed towards tent camps near the city of Sukkur. Abdul Ghani, 14, arrived from the remote village of Karampur, the eldest of seven orphaned siblings.
"Both my parents died in the space of six months last year. Me and a younger brother of mine worked as labourers to support the family," said Ghani, wearing a worn grey shalwar khamis.
"Life was already so difficult, but now we're doomed.
"My four-year-old sister is hungry and ill but I have no idea what to do, where to go. No one is there to help us," he said.
Shakeel Ahmed, 15, another orphan, faces a similar problem providing better shelter and food for his three younger siblings.
"We're too young and no one takes our problems seriously. No one listens to us. I tried to explain our problems but they shrugged me away," he said.
In a relief camp at a Nowshehra technical college, children are crying, many walk naked without shoes, and a foul stench pervades the air due to people urinating and defecating next to the tents.
Doctors at the camp's field hospital say most of the children are suffering from gastroenteritis, skin diseases and dehydration caused by ***** and infection resulting from the destruction of sewers in the floods.
Twenty-five year-old Bushra Humayun, a labourer's wife, said she had given birth to twins in the camp, adding to her six other children.
She recalled losing her house in the flood and wading up to her neck through water while pregnant to reach the camp, two miles away.
"I'm not getting enough food to feed my two infants and they're getting weak as they remain underfed," Humayun told AFP, sweat dripping down her face.
Her 12-year-old son Haroon had stomach pain and mosquito bites all over his arms and face. Life in the camp is their only prospect for the foreseeable future.
NOWSHEHRA, Pakistan, Aug 16, 2010 (AFP) - Six million children are suffering from Pakistan's devastating floods: lost, orphaned or stricken with diarrhoea, they are the most vulnerable victims of the nation's worst-ever natural disaster.
At relief camps in government schools and colleges and in tent villages on the edge of towns and by roadways, children are prostate from the heat, sick from poor drinking water, or simply trying to find work.
"These are the most bitter days of my life," said Iltaz Begum, 15, suffering from diarrhoea and stretched out in a government tent on the muddy outskirts of the northwestern town of Nowshehra.
"The weather has made our lives miserable. I had to leave my blind mother behind and there's no one to look after her as my father died two years ago."
The tent village has no electricity. The rains have gone, but only to be replaced by heat and humidity. Flies buzz everywhere and the smell of faeces wafts through the camp.
Girls like Iltaz are just a drop in the ocean for the massive relief effort that the international community is trying to mobilise in one of the biggest ever UN aid operations.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said millions had lost their livelihoods as he visited Pakistan on Sunday and witnessed "heart wrenching" scenes of destruction. Pakistan says 20 million people have been hit by the floods.
"Many have lost families and friends. Many more are afraid their children and loved ones will not survive in these conditions," said Ban.
Sami Abdul Malik, spokesman for the UN children's fund UNICEF, said six million children were affected by the floods. The fund is distributing high-energy biscuits to stave off malnutrition and other diseases.
"Currently we are in a life-saving phase," he told AFP. "We are distributing high energy biscuits because malnutrition is a curse. It can lead to several other diseases.
"Children are always vulnerable. They cannot control their thirst, they will drink any type of water and may get watery diarrhoea, cholera, malaria and other diseases."
On top of all this are the trauma and psychological problems faced by those who have been orphaned or separated from parents.
In the south, people fleeing flooded homes have headed towards tent camps near the city of Sukkur. Abdul Ghani, 14, arrived from the remote village of Karampur, the eldest of seven orphaned siblings.
"Both my parents died in the space of six months last year. Me and a younger brother of mine worked as labourers to support the family," said Ghani, wearing a worn grey shalwar khamis.
"Life was already so difficult, but now we're doomed.
"My four-year-old sister is hungry and ill but I have no idea what to do, where to go. No one is there to help us," he said.
Shakeel Ahmed, 15, another orphan, faces a similar problem providing better shelter and food for his three younger siblings.
"We're too young and no one takes our problems seriously. No one listens to us. I tried to explain our problems but they shrugged me away," he said.
In a relief camp at a Nowshehra technical college, children are crying, many walk naked without shoes, and a foul stench pervades the air due to people urinating and defecating next to the tents.
Doctors at the camp's field hospital say most of the children are suffering from gastroenteritis, skin diseases and dehydration caused by ***** and infection resulting from the destruction of sewers in the floods.
Twenty-five year-old Bushra Humayun, a labourer's wife, said she had given birth to twins in the camp, adding to her six other children.
She recalled losing her house in the flood and wading up to her neck through water while pregnant to reach the camp, two miles away.
"I'm not getting enough food to feed my two infants and they're getting weak as they remain underfed," Humayun told AFP, sweat dripping down her face.
Her 12-year-old son Haroon had stomach pain and mosquito bites all over his arms and face. Life in the camp is their only prospect for the foreseeable future.
fawwaxs
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Misery for 'doomed orphans' of Pakistan floods
NOWSHEHRA, Pakistan Six million children are suffering from Pakistan's devastating floods: lost, orphaned or stricken with diarrhoea, they are the most vulnerable victims of the nation's worst-ever natural disaster.
At relief camps in government schools and colleges, and in tent villages on the edge of towns and by roadways, children are prostate from the heat, sick from dirty drinking water, or simply trying to find work.
"These are the most bitter days of my life," said Iltaz Begum, 15, suffering from diarrhoea and stretched out in a government tent on the muddy outskirts of the northwestern town of Nowshehra.
"The weather has made our lives miserable," she said. "I had to leave my blind mother behind and there's no one to look after her as my father died two years ago."
The tent village has no electricity. The rains have gone, only to be replaced by heat and humidity. Flies buzz everywhere and the smell of faeces wafts through the camp.
Girls like Iltaz are just a drop in the ocean for the massive relief effort that the international community is trying to mobilise in one of the biggest ever UN aid operations.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, visiting Pakistan on Sunday, said millions had lost their livelihoods as he witnessed "heart-wrenching" scenes of destruction. Pakistan says 20 million people have been hit by the floods.
"Many have lost families and friends. Many more are afraid their children and loved ones will not survive in these conditions," said Ban.
Sami Abdul Malik, spokesman for the UN children's fund UNICEF, said six million children were affected by the floods.
"Currently we are in a life-saving phase," he told AFP. "We are distributing high-energy biscuits because malnutrition is a curse. It can lead to several other diseases.
"Children are always vulnerable. They cannot control their thirst, they will drink any type of water and may get watery diarrhoea, cholera, malaria and other diseases."
In addition, there are trauma and psychological problems facing children who have been orphaned or separated from their parents.
In the south, people fleeing flooded homes have headed towards tent camps near the city of Sukkur. Abdul Ghani, 14, arrived from the remote village of Karampur, the eldest of seven orphaned siblings.
"Both my parents died in the space of six months last year. Me and a younger brother of mine worked as labourers to support the family," said Ghani, wearing a worn grey shalwar khamis.
"Life was already so difficult, but now we're doomed.
"My four-year-old sister is hungry and ill but I have no idea what to do, where to go. No one is there to help us," he said.
Shakeel Ahmed, 15, another orphan, faces a similar problem providing shelter and food for his three younger siblings.
"We're too young and no one takes our problems seriously. No one listens to us. I tried to explain our problems but they shrugged me away," he said.
In a relief camp at a Nowshehra technical college, children are crying, many walk naked without shoes, and a foul stench pervades the air due to people urinating and defecating next to the tents.
Doctors at the camp's field hospital say most of the children are suffering from gastroenteritis, skin diseases and dehydration caused by ***** and infection resulting from the destruction of sewers in the floods.
Twenty-five year-old Bushra Humayun, a labourer's wife, said she had given birth to twins in the camp, adding to her six other children.
She recalled losing her house in the flood and wading up to her neck through water while pregnant to reach the camp, two miles (three kilometres) away.
"I'm not getting enough food to feed my two infants and they're getting weak as they remain underfed," Humayun told AFP, sweat dripping down her face.
Her 12-year-old son Haroon had stomach pain and mosquito bites all over his arms and face. Life in the camp is their only prospect for the foreseeable future.
NOWSHEHRA, Pakistan Six million children are suffering from Pakistan's devastating floods: lost, orphaned or stricken with diarrhoea, they are the most vulnerable victims of the nation's worst-ever natural disaster.
At relief camps in government schools and colleges, and in tent villages on the edge of towns and by roadways, children are prostate from the heat, sick from dirty drinking water, or simply trying to find work.
"These are the most bitter days of my life," said Iltaz Begum, 15, suffering from diarrhoea and stretched out in a government tent on the muddy outskirts of the northwestern town of Nowshehra.
"The weather has made our lives miserable," she said. "I had to leave my blind mother behind and there's no one to look after her as my father died two years ago."
The tent village has no electricity. The rains have gone, only to be replaced by heat and humidity. Flies buzz everywhere and the smell of faeces wafts through the camp.
Girls like Iltaz are just a drop in the ocean for the massive relief effort that the international community is trying to mobilise in one of the biggest ever UN aid operations.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, visiting Pakistan on Sunday, said millions had lost their livelihoods as he witnessed "heart-wrenching" scenes of destruction. Pakistan says 20 million people have been hit by the floods.
"Many have lost families and friends. Many more are afraid their children and loved ones will not survive in these conditions," said Ban.
Sami Abdul Malik, spokesman for the UN children's fund UNICEF, said six million children were affected by the floods.
"Currently we are in a life-saving phase," he told AFP. "We are distributing high-energy biscuits because malnutrition is a curse. It can lead to several other diseases.
"Children are always vulnerable. They cannot control their thirst, they will drink any type of water and may get watery diarrhoea, cholera, malaria and other diseases."
In addition, there are trauma and psychological problems facing children who have been orphaned or separated from their parents.
In the south, people fleeing flooded homes have headed towards tent camps near the city of Sukkur. Abdul Ghani, 14, arrived from the remote village of Karampur, the eldest of seven orphaned siblings.
"Both my parents died in the space of six months last year. Me and a younger brother of mine worked as labourers to support the family," said Ghani, wearing a worn grey shalwar khamis.
"Life was already so difficult, but now we're doomed.
"My four-year-old sister is hungry and ill but I have no idea what to do, where to go. No one is there to help us," he said.
Shakeel Ahmed, 15, another orphan, faces a similar problem providing shelter and food for his three younger siblings.
"We're too young and no one takes our problems seriously. No one listens to us. I tried to explain our problems but they shrugged me away," he said.
In a relief camp at a Nowshehra technical college, children are crying, many walk naked without shoes, and a foul stench pervades the air due to people urinating and defecating next to the tents.
Doctors at the camp's field hospital say most of the children are suffering from gastroenteritis, skin diseases and dehydration caused by ***** and infection resulting from the destruction of sewers in the floods.
Twenty-five year-old Bushra Humayun, a labourer's wife, said she had given birth to twins in the camp, adding to her six other children.
She recalled losing her house in the flood and wading up to her neck through water while pregnant to reach the camp, two miles (three kilometres) away.
"I'm not getting enough food to feed my two infants and they're getting weak as they remain underfed," Humayun told AFP, sweat dripping down her face.
Her 12-year-old son Haroon had stomach pain and mosquito bites all over his arms and face. Life in the camp is their only prospect for the foreseeable future.
fawwaxs
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Authorities warn of more floods as millions affected
SUKKUR: Authorities warned of more flooding this week in Pakistan and heavy rain lashed victims living in makeshift camps Monday, adding to the urgency of a massive international relief effort under way.
Pakistan's worst floods in recorded history began more than two weeks ago in the mountainous northwest and have spread throughout the country. Around 20 million people and 160,000 square kilometres of land — about 1/5 of the country — have been affected.
''Floods seem to be chasing us everywhere,'' said 45-year-old Ali Bakhsh Bhaio, as monsoon downpours pounded his makeshift tent on the side of the major highway in Sukkur, a hard-hit area in Sindh province. ''Allah is punishing us for our sins.''
The Sindh irrigation minister, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, said the dam in Sukkur faced a major test of its strength as floodwaters coursed down the Indus River into Pakistan's highly populated agricultural heartland.
''The coming four to five days are still crucial,'' he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew over the flood-hit area Sunday and said he had never seen a disaster on such a scale. He urged the international community to speed up assistance to the country.
The world body has appealed for an initial $460 million to provide relief, of which around 60 per cent has been given.
Once the floods recede, billions more will be needed for reconstruction and getting people back to work in the already-poor nation of 170 million people. The International Monetary Fund has warned that the floods could dent economic growth and fuel inflation.
While local charities and international agencies have helped hundreds of thousands of people with food, water, shelter and medical treatment, the scale of the disaster has meant that many millions have received little or no assistance. The UN has voiced fears that disease in overcrowded and unsanitary relief camps may yet cause more deaths.
SUKKUR: Authorities warned of more flooding this week in Pakistan and heavy rain lashed victims living in makeshift camps Monday, adding to the urgency of a massive international relief effort under way.
Pakistan's worst floods in recorded history began more than two weeks ago in the mountainous northwest and have spread throughout the country. Around 20 million people and 160,000 square kilometres of land — about 1/5 of the country — have been affected.
''Floods seem to be chasing us everywhere,'' said 45-year-old Ali Bakhsh Bhaio, as monsoon downpours pounded his makeshift tent on the side of the major highway in Sukkur, a hard-hit area in Sindh province. ''Allah is punishing us for our sins.''
The Sindh irrigation minister, Jam Saifullah Dharejo, said the dam in Sukkur faced a major test of its strength as floodwaters coursed down the Indus River into Pakistan's highly populated agricultural heartland.
''The coming four to five days are still crucial,'' he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew over the flood-hit area Sunday and said he had never seen a disaster on such a scale. He urged the international community to speed up assistance to the country.
The world body has appealed for an initial $460 million to provide relief, of which around 60 per cent has been given.
Once the floods recede, billions more will be needed for reconstruction and getting people back to work in the already-poor nation of 170 million people. The International Monetary Fund has warned that the floods could dent economic growth and fuel inflation.
While local charities and international agencies have helped hundreds of thousands of people with food, water, shelter and medical treatment, the scale of the disaster has meant that many millions have received little or no assistance. The UN has voiced fears that disease in overcrowded and unsanitary relief camps may yet cause more deaths.
Devil Soul
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Donkeys Come To The Rescue In Pakistan Floods
KOZA SIRAI, Pakistan, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Millions of dollars may have been donated for Pakistan's flood victims, but on the ground authorities are having to use donkeys to slowly transport supplies to cut off mountain villages.
Logistical nightmares, shortages of helicopters to access remote areas and more rains that triggered landslides have forced authorities and aid agencies to take desperate measures.
Reaching remote villages tucked between mountains is one of the most daunting challenges. In scenic Shahpur valley, where Koza Sirai is located, some 150,000 people are in urgent need of food and medical supplies, officials say.
With an area roughly the size of Italy affected by floods, government and foreign aid has been slow in coming and the United Nations has warned of a second wave of deaths among the sick and hungry if help does not arrive.
As urgent appeals for international aid are made, policemen guide 30 donkeys strapped with flour, rice, cooking oil and sugar along narrow, muddy tracks and mountain terrain to villages.
Pakistan's powerful military, which has raised its profile with rescue and relief efforts in the flood catastrophe, is overseeing such operations, which take four hours each way.
Local officials are managing the donkey missions. That may not have inspired confidence in the government, which has drawn heavy criticism for its perceived slow respone to the crisis.
TIRED BEAST OF BURDEN
"If you're a relative of someone who is influential, you will get more food no matter how big or small your family is," said teacher Mohammad Niaz at a food distribution centre.
Swollen by torrential monsoon rains, major rivers have flooded Pakistan's mountain valleys and fertile plains, killing up to 1,600 people and leaving two million homeless.
The villages, part of the greater Swat valley, were cut off for four days after the floods washed away houses, markets and crops.
Officials say the donkeys have hauled over 20 tonnes of supplies along the route to Shahpur since Aug. 3.
Before the floods, the government promised to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into Swat to rebuild infrastructure, schools and hospitals damaged in the war against Taliban insurgents there, in order to win over the public.
Now the economic damages of the flood disaster may force the government to hold back or cut into that strategic spending.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has urged the international community to provide Pakistan with helicopters, boats and hovercrafts to help relief efforts.
Only a quarter of the $459 million aid needed for initial relief has arrived, according to the United Nations.
Getting food distributed by donkeys is in some ways a luxury because the programme is so small. Hundreds of thousands of villagers make the journey on their own. The sick and wounded are carried on people's shoulders on a charpoy, a frame strung with light ropes.
Military officials say many villages are still inaccessible. Even beasts of burden struggle to get through one of the biggest disasters in Pakistan's history. They move along the edge of sheer mud cliffs created by landslides in blistering heat.
"Two of my donkeys got injured as they fell on a narrow track," said donkey owner Munawarullah Khan, beating his animal with a stick to force it to move. In a nearby river bed, several mules turned over and rubbed their backs on wet sand. "They are exhausted," he said.
KOZA SIRAI, Pakistan, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Millions of dollars may have been donated for Pakistan's flood victims, but on the ground authorities are having to use donkeys to slowly transport supplies to cut off mountain villages.
Logistical nightmares, shortages of helicopters to access remote areas and more rains that triggered landslides have forced authorities and aid agencies to take desperate measures.
Reaching remote villages tucked between mountains is one of the most daunting challenges. In scenic Shahpur valley, where Koza Sirai is located, some 150,000 people are in urgent need of food and medical supplies, officials say.
With an area roughly the size of Italy affected by floods, government and foreign aid has been slow in coming and the United Nations has warned of a second wave of deaths among the sick and hungry if help does not arrive.
As urgent appeals for international aid are made, policemen guide 30 donkeys strapped with flour, rice, cooking oil and sugar along narrow, muddy tracks and mountain terrain to villages.
Pakistan's powerful military, which has raised its profile with rescue and relief efforts in the flood catastrophe, is overseeing such operations, which take four hours each way.
Local officials are managing the donkey missions. That may not have inspired confidence in the government, which has drawn heavy criticism for its perceived slow respone to the crisis.
TIRED BEAST OF BURDEN
"If you're a relative of someone who is influential, you will get more food no matter how big or small your family is," said teacher Mohammad Niaz at a food distribution centre.
Swollen by torrential monsoon rains, major rivers have flooded Pakistan's mountain valleys and fertile plains, killing up to 1,600 people and leaving two million homeless.
The villages, part of the greater Swat valley, were cut off for four days after the floods washed away houses, markets and crops.
Officials say the donkeys have hauled over 20 tonnes of supplies along the route to Shahpur since Aug. 3.
Before the floods, the government promised to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into Swat to rebuild infrastructure, schools and hospitals damaged in the war against Taliban insurgents there, in order to win over the public.
Now the economic damages of the flood disaster may force the government to hold back or cut into that strategic spending.
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has urged the international community to provide Pakistan with helicopters, boats and hovercrafts to help relief efforts.
Only a quarter of the $459 million aid needed for initial relief has arrived, according to the United Nations.
Getting food distributed by donkeys is in some ways a luxury because the programme is so small. Hundreds of thousands of villagers make the journey on their own. The sick and wounded are carried on people's shoulders on a charpoy, a frame strung with light ropes.
Military officials say many villages are still inaccessible. Even beasts of burden struggle to get through one of the biggest disasters in Pakistan's history. They move along the edge of sheer mud cliffs created by landslides in blistering heat.
"Two of my donkeys got injured as they fell on a narrow track," said donkey owner Munawarullah Khan, beating his animal with a stick to force it to move. In a nearby river bed, several mules turned over and rubbed their backs on wet sand. "They are exhausted," he said.
Solomon2
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Somehow, two hundred and fifty tractor-trailers' worth of aid must be delivered every day. Donkeys are good, but there aren't enough to do that. Neither are aircraft. Pakistanis must employ trucks, boats, trains, to deliver aid in such quantity.
razgriz19
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UAE steps up relief efforts in Pakistan
A fleet of Chinook helicopters had been deployed to evacuate people to shelters built by the Pakistani government
Islamabad: The UAE Armed Forces will step up relief operations in Pakistan's flood-affected regions as per the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The UAE Armed Forces is operating an air bridge between the flood-hit areas to deliver relief to the affected population.
The commander of the UAE Armed Force's Relief Team in Pakistan said a fleet of Chinook helicopters had been deployed to evacuate people to shelters built by the Pakistani government.
"The UAE Armed Forces team is assisting the Pakistani army to evacuate the distressed population to safe areas and airlift relief supplies to flood engulfed areas which could not be reached by land," he added.
UAE aircraft are also carrying relief assistance offered by friendly countries from main airports to locations of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Relief operations will continue in an attempt to improve the living condition of the flood victims.
The commander added that his team had been among the first aid providers in Pakistan and intensified its humanitarian and relief works in various regions like Punjab.
Officials of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority paid tribute to the UAE for standing and supporting the Pakistani people in this ordeal.
A fleet of Chinook helicopters had been deployed to evacuate people to shelters built by the Pakistani government
Islamabad: The UAE Armed Forces will step up relief operations in Pakistan's flood-affected regions as per the directives of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The UAE Armed Forces is operating an air bridge between the flood-hit areas to deliver relief to the affected population.
The commander of the UAE Armed Force's Relief Team in Pakistan said a fleet of Chinook helicopters had been deployed to evacuate people to shelters built by the Pakistani government.
"The UAE Armed Forces team is assisting the Pakistani army to evacuate the distressed population to safe areas and airlift relief supplies to flood engulfed areas which could not be reached by land," he added.
UAE aircraft are also carrying relief assistance offered by friendly countries from main airports to locations of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Relief operations will continue in an attempt to improve the living condition of the flood victims.
The commander added that his team had been among the first aid providers in Pakistan and intensified its humanitarian and relief works in various regions like Punjab.
Officials of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority paid tribute to the UAE for standing and supporting the Pakistani people in this ordeal.
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