Written by Nisha Anand | Edited by Chandrashekar Srinivasan
Pakistan’s southern provinces are bracing for more floods with a third of the country still inundated after record monsoon rains. Nearly 1,200 people – including 399 children – have been reported dead in what has been called the worst rain-related disaster in a decade.
“We’re on high alert as water arriving downstream from northern flooding is expected to enter the province over the next few days,” Sindh provincial government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab told news agency Reuters. Wahab said the Indus River is predicted to swell at a rate of about 600,000 cubic feet per second, putting existing flood defences to a test.
The United Nations has called the situation in Pakistan an ‘unprecedented climate catastrophe’ and has appealed for $160 million in aid to help the devastated country.
Pakistan has declared a national emergency in the wake of the floods.
The disaster has also led to economic problems with inflation hitting a fresh record this month – the highest in 47 years. Consumer prices rose 27.26 per cent last month from a year earlier, according to data released by the government on Thursday.
Also Read | Pak PM virtually rules out India food import over Kashmir
The flood has affected over four million Pakistanis and has thrown life out of gear.
The World Food Programme earlier said that it aims to reach up to a million people in the coming months with food, nutrition, and livelihoods assistance. The World Health Organisation has said that over 6.4 million are in dire need of humanitarian aid.
The country has begun getting aid from China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates but prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has ruled out the possibility of accepting India’s aid.
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