Pakistan floods: Death toll climbs to nearly 1,300

Nearly 1300 people have been killed so far due to unprecedented floods triggered by record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistans northern mountains as authorities stepped up efforts to contain the spread of waterborne diseases like diarrhoea and malaria in the affected areasThe cataclysmic floods have inundated a third of the country displaced more than 33 million and has caused economic damages to the tune of USD 125 billion to Pakistans already teetering economyAt least 26 people were killed in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 1290 as on Sunday while another 12588 were injured according to the National Disaster Management Authority NDMAThe NDMA said that 492 people have died in Sindh followed by 286 in KhyberPakhtunkhwa province 259 in Balochistan 188 in Punjab 42 in Kashmir 22 in GilgitBaltistan and one in IslamabadFloods have also destroyed about 5563 kms of roads and 243 bridges while 1468019 houses were partially or fully damaged and 736459 livestock killed it saidSindh province is still facing the brunt as officials made a cut in the embankment of swelled Manchar lake to save Sehwan and Bhan Saeedabad towns from getting inundated according to Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel MemonIt was a difficult decision but it had to be taken he saidThe minister said that approximately 125000 people in five union councils would be affected by the water released through this cutMemon also said over 672000 people were in the relief camps where the government was providing food and medicines to the affectedMeanwhile Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho told DawnNews TV that at least 47000 pregnant women were in shelter camps in the province adding that thousands have contracted various waterborne diseases due to the floodsMore than 134000 cases of diarrhoea and 44000 cases of malaria have been reported in the province she addedDr Pechuho said over 100000 skinrelated 101 snake bites and 500 dog bites have been reported so far among flood affecteesAlso Read PM Modi remembers Cyrus Mistry as promising business leaderShe said other cases including respiratory diseases were on the rise in Sindh provinceOn August 30 the United Nations Population Fund UNFPA a sexual and reproductive health agency said that at least 650000 pregnant women of whom 73000 were expected to deliver this month across the country in the floodaffected areas were in dire need of maternal health serviceThe government on August 25 had officially declared a iquestnational emergencyiquest in light of the raininduced floods which have killed more than 1200 peopleMeanwhile Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited Balochistan provinces Kacchi areas on a daylong trip where he was briefed on the situationSharif announced a PKRs 5 million relief grant for labourers who are helping in the evacuation process and another grant of PKRs 1 million for the staff working for the restoration of gas pipelinesThe Prime Minister in a tweet on Sunday asked the United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund and other global agencies to support Pakistan as climateinduced calamities had adversely affected the countrys childrenAs Pakistan battles one of the worst climateinduced calamities among the most adversely affected are children With over 400 dead they make up one third of the overall death toll Now they are at even greater risk of waterborne diseases UNICEF and other global agencies should help Sharif tweetedInternational aid was trickling in and the third flight from Qatar landed at the Karachi airport carrying relief materials and medical items while the United States Agency for International Development said it was deploying a disaster assistance response team to lead a humanitarian responseThis elite team is assessing damage identifying priority needs and coordinating with humanitarian partners in the country USAID tweetedPakistans farmers are still counting their losses from the devastating floods that have put a third of the country under water and wipedout acres of fertile agricultural landFarmers rue that the natural calamity has put the country back by 50 yearsUN chief Antonio Guterres will arrive in Pakistan on September 9 for a solidarity visit and inspect floodhit regions after a USD 160 million emergency plan was launched by the UN and the Pakistan government to provide relief to millions of people living in flood relief campsAs the country was trying to combat the calamity the Met Office has predicted more rains in the coming daysThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever