Recent floods in Sindh caused by monsoon rains have killed almost 300 people and affected six million others causing damage to an area of 7.987 million of land destroying many crops.According to NDMA, all 23 districts of Sindh, namely Badin, TM Khan, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Thatta, Tando Allayar, Naushero Feroze, Khairpur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Sanghar, Dadu, Shahdad Kot, Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Kamber-Shahdadkot, Kashmore, Ghotki, Larkana, Matiari and Bloody Karachi have been affected by the floods.
The floods have fully damaged 5,39,899 houses while another 8,48,412 houses have suffered partial damage.
More than 80,000 livestock have been washed away by flood waters in Sindh while crops like cotton, banana, dates, chilli and sugarcane on 2,800,000 acres have been destroyed or affected. About 31,960 villages have been badly affected by the floods.
The first spell of rain that started on August 11 mainly affected seven districts of the Sindh province, while an ongoing second spell hit the entire province, including Bloody Karachi.
On September 7, President
Asif Ali President Ten PercentZardari
... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ...
took an aerial view of the flooded areas of Benazirabad District, Mirpur, Jhaddo, Kot Ghulam Muhammad and Nohkot and personally saw the devastation on wide scale.
President Zardari directed the federal and provincial governments as well as the concerned authorities to gear up to provide relief to the flood-affected people.
President Zardari has also appealed to the international community to provide humanitarian and rehabilitation assistance for the millions of people affected by this year's floods.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
, who had cancelled his visit to the United States, due to the floods had also appealed to the international community and philanthropists at home and abroad to step forward and help the government rescue and rehabilitate victims of the recent torrential rains and flash floods in Sindh.
Prime Minister Gilani has also constituted a high-level committee to supervise, monitor and coordinate relief and rehabilitation efforts in the rain affected areas of Sindh.
Pakistain Cards are being issued by the government to provide financial assistance to the flood victims and Rs 20,000 will be given to each affected family.
The Pakistain Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) has allocated Rs.258 million and started relief work to help 400,000 displaced people in 14 union councils badly ravaged by the raging flood waters.
Pakistain Army has been busy in rescue and relief operation and so far rescued more than 100,000 marooned people along with their cattle from various water inundated areas.
Pakistain Navy teams are also busy in rescue work in the flood affected areas and have evacuated 11,000 victims.
In response to the appeal of President Zardari, China has announced that it will supply relief goods worth $4.5 million for Pakistain's flood victims. Iran has announced $100 million aid for the rehabilitation of the rain-affected people of Sindh. Japan has announced emergency relief goods worth $450,000. The relief goods include tents, water purifiers and medicines.
South Korea has decided to provide emergency assistance worth $200,000 in relief goods.
The European Commission announced that 10 million euros would be provided in emergency relief.
Donations by Germany for the flood victims in Pakistain have increased to over $210 million.
The Red Thingy Society of China has donated $50,000 in cash as emergency aid to Pakistain.
The UN-led humanitarian community in Pakistain is seeking $337 million from donor countries for an emergency response plan to support the government in addressing the needs of flood-affected families in Sindh.
The United States is sending food aid for nearly 350,000 and medical assistance for about 500,000 people.
UN Secretary-General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
formally called on the international community to help Pakistain respond to the humanitarian needs of flood victims.
A team of UN agencies is currently visiting the affected areas for a needs assessment.