Pakistan: Floods devastate Sindh Province - Again!

A state of emergency has been declared in the Sindh Province of Pakistan. Over five million people are directly affected due to heavy monsoon rains and floods caused by the breaches in the drains and canals.

A million homes have been destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of livestock have been killed. Crops standing on 1.7 million acres of land have been destroyed. Roads are inundated. Bridges are broken and there is no electricity.

An additional ten million people of the Province have become indirectly affected or are due to be affected from food insecurity, paucity of milk, butter, cereals, vegetables and fruits because the affected twenty districts of Pakistan are considered as the “ supply storage” of that region.

So far more than 350 people are reported dead. Hundreds have been injured. The majority of the population is without access to shelter, food, medicines, and clean drinking water.

“On the basis of rapid needs assessment, the UN will launch a flash appeal to seek global financial assistance for Pakistan,” confirmed the local UN spokesperson Ishrat Rizvi.

This is the second flash appeal being launched by the UN, the first one issued after last year’s super floods which killed 2,000 people, left a fifth of the country underwater and affected around 21 million people.

Local officials, however, say devastation in the Province is worse than last year. Tuesday witnessed heavy spells of rains across the province with Karachi, Mithi, Dadu, Tandojam, Sakrand, Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas, each receiving between 100 and 190 mm of rain.

Chief meteorologist Mohammad Riaz said the figures were a 51-year record, and the rains would continue for the rest of the week.

Life in Karachi, the capital of Sindh Province, was severely affected as knee-deep water accumulated on all major arteries and in low lying areas with no sign of local administration officials taking remedial measures. Medical experts warned of outbreak of water-borne diseases especially dengue fever if water was not pumped out in affected areas.

All public and private schools of Karachi remained closed on Tuesday. The ongoing rain has turned most parts of the city into pools and people faced great difficulties to travel and reach offices and other places.

A recent history of flooding in Sindh:

In 2003, Sindh Province was bading affected due to monsoon rains causing damages in billions.

In 2007, Cyclone Yemyin submerged lower part of Balochistan Province in sea water killing 380 people. Before that it killed 213 people in Karachi on its way to Balochistan.

In 2009, Karachi was flooded.

In 2010, from Mid-July till Mid-August - Pakistan's four Provinces (Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab and Sindh) were badly affected during the monsoon rains when dams, rivers and lakes overflowed, killing at least 1,750 people, injuring 2,500 and affecting 23 million people. The flood is considered the worst in Pakistan's history, affecting people of all four Provinces and Azad Jamu and Kashmir Region of Pakistan.


The Ahmadiyya Post, Pakistan. By Zubair Ahmed. Sept 14, 2011