Massive floods across Pakistan | Thousands Killed

[razgriz19]

just heard it on news that 18 more US choppers might come

 

[fawwaxs]

Salzburg gala raises 300,000 euros for Pakistan

VIENNA: Salzburg’s exclusive summer music festival raised 300,000 euros in aid for Pakistan’s flood victims at a star-studded benefit gala, organisers said Friday.

The Russian superstar soprano, Anna Netrebko, headlined the special fundraiser held Thursday night in the Austrian city’s Haus fuer Mozart theatre.

Some 1,560 punters paid between 40 and 280 euros each for a seat in the audience, raising a total of 300,000 euros.

All the artists and the orchestra performed for free in an evening of arias and readings, capped by a tango danced by Netrebko’s Uruguayan partner, the baritone Erwin Schrott.

The Salzburg funds come on top of the Austrian government’s official contribution of close to seven million euros towards disaster relief in flood-stricken Pakistan.

The worst in the country’s history, the deadly floods have affected 20 million people and an area the size of England. —AFP

 

[fawwaxs]

Fake NGOs collecting relief funds

ISLAMABAD: As a number of NGOs and charity organisations have come out to collect donations for flood-affected people, there are apprehensions that millions of rupees can be eaten up by some fake organisations.

The fear is genuine to some extent as the government lacks a mechanism to monitor fund collection by private organisations.

The names of some of the NGOs which have set up their camps in different cities have not been heard before. Some of them have been using the names of leaders of the ruling Pakistan Peoples' Party to avoid action and checking of their credentials by the administration and police.

A number of such organisations have set up camps on roadsides and near traffic signals in Islamabad. Members of these organisations, including children carrying money boxes, spring into action as soon as a car pulls at a signal.

Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kiara and National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed admitted that there was no mechanism to check fake NGOs. They said they feared that any action by the government against them might affect relief work and discourage genuine bodies.

"Relief operations are so fragile and hurriedly conducted that no one can impose any check on them and thus we have to bank on the intentions of charity organisations," Lt-Gen Nadeem said.

He said that no one could persuade the people to give their donations to a specific organisation. "The government realises that some miscreants may collect donations in the guise of welfare or charity organisations, but at present any action can destabilise relief and rescue operations," he added.

The NDMA chief, however, said that monitoring and checks could be ensured during the rehabilitation process when NGOs were registered.

Mr Kiara said provincial governments should evolve a mechanism for monitoring NGOs involved in relief and rescue operations. "It should be the duty of local administrations in the provinces to check who is collecting donations and for which purpose." © The DAWN Group of Newspapers

 

[fawwaxs]

Floodwaters make another break in Thatta levee

THATTA: Floodwaters made another break Saturday in the levees protecting the southern city of Thatta, as thousands of residents fled for high ground and left the city nearly empty.

Both sides of the main road were crowded with people - from Thatta and nearby flooded villages - fleeing the floodwaters. Many had spent the night sleeping out in the open.

Hadi Baksh Kalhoro, a Thatta disaster management official, said more than 175,000 people had left the city, leaving it nearly deserted.

Some are heading for nearby towns or cities, he said, with thousands also headed for the high ground of an ancient graveyard for Muslim saints.

He said the latest levee breach, which happened early Saturday, could leave the outskirts of Thatta flooded by later in the day. The city is about 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi.

Sindh is the worst-affected province. Out of its 23 districts, 19 have so far been ravaged by floods, a statement by the United Nations' Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Friday.

“More than seven million people have been displaced in Sindh since August 3, one million only in the past two days,” Ghulam Ali Pasha, provincial relief commissioner for southern Sindh province told AFP.

Pasha said that 2.3 million people were still in need of tents and food.

“We are fighting to save Thatta and other towns,” in Sindh province, he added.

Thatta was deserted as people fled with their livestock and other belongings, heading for nearby Makli and Karachi as engineers tried to repair six-metre (20-foot) wide breach a nearby dyke, an AFP reporter said.

An OCHA spokesman in Islamabad Friday estimated that one million people had been displaced in a 48-hour period in Sindh alone.

The United Nations, the Pakistani army and a host of local and international relief groups have been rushing aid workers, medicine, food and water to the affected regions, but are unable to reach many people.

The new levee breach came as a gunbattle broke out at an office of security forces in the main city in Pakistan's northwest. The motive behind the attack, in the city of Peshawar, was not immediately clear, police said. – AP

 

[alibaz]

When BB was injured many people must have wished that Rawalpindi General Hospital should have been the best in Pakistan which she could have done in her life, BB herself must have passed across that hospital number of times but it was too late. My message to fake NGOs is based on same repent, one day you may be in trouble someone fake like you will collect money and vanish leaving you to die a miserable death

 

[GUNNER]

U.S. doubles helicopters for Pakistan flood relief

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 - The Pentagon said on Friday it would double the number of U.S. helicopters to help with relief efforts in Pakistan after epic floods that have overwhelmed the fragile government there.

An additional 18 helicopters, including 10 Chinooks and 8 black hawks, would arrive in mid-September as part of an expanded U.S. contribution to deal with the floods, the Pentagon said.

These would be in addition to 15 helicopters and three C-130 aircraft already there.

The US Embassy in Islamabad confirmed that additional USAF staff of 40 personnel had arrived in Islamabad ahead of this huge increase in the relief mission.

 

[alibaz]

The deluge showed no sign of let-up in wreaking havoc in Thatta and Dadu areas of southern Sindh as breach in embankments of Bao Poran Das and Faqeer Goth unleashed devastation in several villages.
The banks of Chato Chund Canal busted, due to a 50 feet crack developed in its bank, and inundated around 10 villages forcing thousands of people to evacuate. Floodwaters are moving fast towards national highway, a development which could suspend ground links of Hyderabad and Thatta from rest of the country. Meanwhile, authorities have managed to plug a 30 feet crack in Bao Poran Das bund besides a 50 feet wide breach in Manarki bund. As a result of which water level in KB feeder and Thatta canals has been decreased.
As many as 15 villages have been submerged as a crack emerged in Sakro Branch while floodwaters entered into Daro City after a 700 feet wide breach took place in Surjani Bund. The deluge is roaring towards Bela City. Eighty percent population of Thatta has been shifted to safer places whereas Sujawal, Mirpur Bhatoro and Bela have also been vacated. On the other hand, several villages of Dadu district have been submerged; water level in Manchar Lake is also surging. Hundreds of thousands of people of tehsils KN Shah, Moheer and Johi have been shifted to safer places. Water is in downward trend at Ganda Singh while upward trend is recorded at Head Islam in River Sutlej. An inflow of 56,000 cusecs is being recorded at Ganda Singh while water flow in River Sutlej has been decreased from 59,000 to 56,000 cusecs. Floodwaters have devastated Bhaki Wand, Chanda Singh, Ranger Chowki and several other villages and destroyed standing crops on 3,000 hectares of land.
Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that government's top priority is to rescue the people marooned in the flood-hit areas. He said that all-out efforts are underway to evacuate people, and added that the deluge inflicted heavy losses upon Sindh province.He maintained that the losses are hard to quantify as yet.

Dunya TV - Pakistan | Several villages inundated as flood hit Thatta, Dadu; exodus

 

[Aeon]

UAE raises more than 20 million dollars for Pakistan
Sunday, 29 Aug, 2010

DUBAI: A nationwide fundraising campaign in the United Arab Emirates has so far raised more than 20 million dollars of aid for Pakistan flood victims, the official WAM news reported.

The campaign, launched by the UAE Red Crescent under the slogan “Your Help,” raised more than 75 million dirhams (20.4 million dollars) over its first four days and will carry on until Monday, WAM said late on Saturday.

It said a live TV fundraising campaign was being run on several Emirati television channels.

Pakistan has a close ties with the oil-rich Emirates, where hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis live and work, mostly labourers.

For nearly a month, torrential monsoon rain has triggered massive floods in Pakistan steadily moving from north to south, affecting a fifth of the country — an area roughly the size of England — and 17 million people.

A senior US official said last week that countries worldwide have pledged a total of more than 700 million dollars toward flood relief in Pakistan.

But reconstruction efforts must begin immediately to prevent the flooding disaster from becoming a long-term catastrophe, aid agency Oxfam said Sunday.

It said billions of dollars would be needed to start rebuilding schools, roads, bridges and hospitals immediately, adding that the aid effort was struggling to respond.

 

[fawwaxs]

Muslims donate nearly $1 billion to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Muslim countries, organizations and individuals have pledged nearly $1 billion in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation's history, the head of a group of Islamic states said Sunday.

The announcement came as floodwaters inundated a large town in Pakistan and authorities struggled to build new levees with clay and stone to prevent one of the area's biggest cities from suffering the same fate.

Foreign countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help Pakistan cope with the floods, which first hit the country about a month ago after extremely heavy monsoon rains. But some officials had criticized the Muslim world for not contributing enough.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the 57-member Organization of The Islamic Conference, likely sought to counter that criticism by announcing that Muslims have pledged nearly $1 billion. The pledges came from Muslim states, NGOs, OIC institutions and telethons held in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, he said.

''They have shown that they are one of the largest contributors of assistance both in kind and cash,'' said Ihsanoglu of the various donors. He spoke during a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad.

Ihsanoglu did not provide a breakdown of the pledges or say how much of the money would flow through the Pakistani government versus independent organizations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized donations made to foreign NGOs rather than the Pakistani government Sunday, saying much of the money would be wasted ''Eighty per cent of the aid will not come to you directly,'' said Gilani, referring to Pakistani citizens.

''It will come through their NGOs, and they will eat half of it,'' he said during a press conference in his hometown of Multan.

The floods began in the mountainous northwest about a month ago and have moved slowly down the country toward the coast in the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and damaging or destroying more than 1 million homes.

Floodwaters surged into the southern town of Sujawal on Sunday after breaking through a levee on the Indus River two days earlier, said Hadi Baksh, a disaster management official in southern Sindh province.

Most of the town's 250,000 residents had already fled, but the damage to homes, clinics and schools added to the widespread devastation the floods have caused across Pakistan.

Authorities in Sujawal were trying to limit the flood damage, but the water level has already risen up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) in the center of town and 10 feet (3 meters) in the surrounding villages, said Anwarul Haq, the top official in Sujawal.

The floodwaters also threatened Thatta, a historic city of some 350,000 people who have mostly fled to higher ground. Thatta is the base of operations for local authorities trying to cope with a disaster that has overwhelmed the Pakistani government and international partners who have stepped in to help.

Authorities rushed to build makeshift levees across the road connecting Sujawal and Thatta, parts of which were already flooded, Baksh said.

''We are trying to plug the bridges at three different points to stop the water flow toward Thatta,'' said Baksh. ''We are trying all our best efforts.''

Thatta is located about 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi and 15 miles northwest of Sujawal.

Many of the people who fled Sujawal and Thatta headed to Makli, a hill just south of Thatta that contains a vast Muslim graveyard. About half a million flood victims are camped out on the hill, Baksh said. Most lack any form of shelter and are desperate for food and water.

''We don't have water to drink, not to mention food, tents or any other facility,'' said Mohammed Usman, a laborer who fled Sujawal several days ago and needed water to help cope with a painful kidney stone.

The United Nations, the Pakistani army and a host of local and international relief groups have rushed aid workers, medicine, food and water to the affected regions, but are unable to reach many of the 8 million people who are in need of emergency assistance.

The US said Saturday it would deploy an additional 18 helicopters to help with the relief effort. The US military is already operating 15 helicopters and three C-130 aircraft in the country, the US Embassy said in a statement. -AP

 

[fawwaxs]

Muslims donate nearly $1 billion to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Muslim countries, organizations and individuals have pledged nearly $1 billion in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation's history, the head of a group of Islamic states said Sunday.

The announcement came as floodwaters inundated a large town in Pakistan and authorities struggled to build new levees with clay and stone to prevent one of the area's biggest cities from suffering the same fate.

Foreign countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help Pakistan cope with the floods, which first hit the country about a month ago after extremely heavy monsoon rains. But some officials had criticized the Muslim world for not contributing enough.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the 57-member Organization of The Islamic Conference, likely sought to counter that criticism by announcing that Muslims have pledged nearly $1 billion. The pledges came from Muslim states, NGOs, OIC institutions and telethons held in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, he said.

''They have shown that they are one of the largest contributors of assistance both in kind and cash,'' said Ihsanoglu of the various donors. He spoke during a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad.

Ihsanoglu did not provide a breakdown of the pledges or say how much of the money would flow through the Pakistani government versus independent organizations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized donations made to foreign NGOs rather than the Pakistani government Sunday, saying much of the money would be wasted ''Eighty per cent of the aid will not come to you directly,'' said Gilani, referring to Pakistani citizens.

''It will come through their NGOs, and they will eat half of it,'' he said during a press conference in his hometown of Multan.

The floods began in the mountainous northwest about a month ago and have moved slowly down the country toward the coast in the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and damaging or destroying more than 1 million homes.

Floodwaters surged into the southern town of Sujawal on Sunday after breaking through a levee on the Indus River two days earlier, said Hadi Baksh, a disaster management official in southern Sindh province.

Most of the town's 250,000 residents had already fled, but the damage to homes, clinics and schools added to the widespread devastation the floods have caused across Pakistan.

Authorities in Sujawal were trying to limit the flood damage, but the water level has already risen up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) in the center of town and 10 feet (3 meters) in the surrounding villages, said Anwarul Haq, the top official in Sujawal.

The floodwaters also threatened Thatta, a historic city of some 350,000 people who have mostly fled to higher ground. Thatta is the base of operations for local authorities trying to cope with a disaster that has overwhelmed the Pakistani government and international partners who have stepped in to help.

Authorities rushed to build makeshift levees across the road connecting Sujawal and Thatta, parts of which were already flooded, Baksh said.

''We are trying to plug the bridges at three different points to stop the water flow toward Thatta,'' said Baksh. ''We are trying all our best efforts.''

Thatta is located about 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi and 15 miles northwest of Sujawal.

Many of the people who fled Sujawal and Thatta headed to Makli, a hill just south of Thatta that contains a vast Muslim graveyard. About half a million flood victims are camped out on the hill, Baksh said. Most lack any form of shelter and are desperate for food and water.

''We don't have water to drink, not to mention food, tents or any other facility,'' said Mohammed Usman, a laborer who fled Sujawal several days ago and needed water to help cope with a painful kidney stone.

The United Nations, the Pakistani army and a host of local and international relief groups have rushed aid workers, medicine, food and water to the affected regions, but are unable to reach many of the 8 million people who are in need of emergency assistance.

The US said Saturday it would deploy an additional 18 helicopters to help with the relief effort. The US military is already operating 15 helicopters and three C-130 aircraft in the country, the US Embassy said in a statement. -AP

 

[Nishan]

Jordan sends relief plane to Pakistan

[30/08/2010 15:24]

Amman, Aug.

30 (Petra) -- A Jordanian relief plane flew to Pakistan on Monday to support relief efforts in areas that had been hit by the worst floods in 80 years.

The plane dispatched by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) carries 9 tonnes of food, medicine and medical supplies to help victims of the devastating floods.

JHCO Chairman HRH Prince Rashed Bib Al Hassan said the aid shipment was readied upon the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II to alleviate the plight of flood victims.

Charge d’affaires at the Pakistani embassy in Amman, Zaheer Janjua, expressed thanks for His Majesty and the Jordanian people and said the relief aid would help victims of the floods.

He also hailed efforts by a Jordanian medical team which provides treatment to hundreds of people in the disaster zone on a daily basis.

 

[Aeon]

UN appeals for more helicopters
Monday, 30 Aug, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme, Josette Sheeran, on Monday announced that the WFP is doubling its own helicopter fleet from five to ten to ensure uninterrupted supply of food to flood-hit people of Pakistan.

Sheeran appealed to the world community to provide more helicopters for the purpose.

According to a statement issued by the WFP, Sheeran is visiting Pakistan on Aug 31 to review the program's relief activities.

Besides traveling to the flood hit areas she will also hold meetings with the chiefs of other UN organisations involved in the relief efforts.

Sheeran said that the devastating flood had cut off many areas but there were still several regions which were accessible via roads.

She said the WFP was finding it hard to provide food to eight lac people stuck in remote areas. “Helicopters were the only way to reach them and we were short of them,” she added.—DawnNews

 

[fawwaxs]

 

[GentlemanObserver]

We had Russian and Ukrainian Heavy Lift Heli's from WFP last time in 2005, i wonder if we can have them again?

 

[Undivided Kashmir]

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