Humanitarian crisis emerging in Sindh, Balochistan as heavy rains wreck havoc: Pak Minister

Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman said that a humanitarian crisis is emerging in Sindh and Balochistan due to record rains in the country, media reports said.

Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman said that a humanitarian crisis is emerging in Sindh and Balochistan due to record rains in the country, media reports said. The remarks came in the wake of the death of more than 100 people in the current floods in Balochistan which also ravaged the lives of thousands of people.

A committee comprising the federal ministers has left for Sindh to assess the damages caused by monsoon rains and floods. The committee will also visit the affected areas of Karachi, Radio Pakistan said. Moreover, Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman, in a statement, also highlighted the grim consequences of the monsoon rains in the country. She said that there have been 193 per cent more monsoon rains this year as compared to the previous year.

She stressed that the ministry will examine the relief activities and ground situation. The Minister also called for pre-emptive steps to cope with climate change. Analysts say the hearth rendering condition of rained-out metropolises in Pakistan are getting the attention but the flooded rural hinterland is getting little to no media coverage.

"Social media is rife with heart-wrenching visuals where people can be seen taking dead bodies out of water. It is shocking that during this terrible situation, where helpless people drowned to death, the provincial government remained oblivious to people's suffering," The News International said in an editorial.Speaking at a press conference last week, Balochistan Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili said, "thousands of people have been injured and around 50,000 people have been affected. Besides, around 200,000 acres of land has also been affected."Besides this, the provincial disaster body said that more than 6,000 houses have been damaged, and 3,000 houses have been completely destroyed by the flash floods since June 1. Writing for The News International, Qasim Khan noted that these are only the reported figures, and the actual figures in the underreported areas in the peripheries are obviously higher, as evident by the circumstantial evidence shared by the locals.

"While it is true that this year's monsoon rains have broken the 30-year average, it is unfortunate that the Balochistan government could not devise a substantial plan to counter the destruction caused by the floods at the earliest and save the lives of the poor living in mud houses in both rural and urban areas," he said.Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif flood-hit areas of Balochistan on Saturday and expressed solidarity with the affected people. He said the federal government is working with the provincial government to provide immediate relief to the people. "I visited the flood-hit areas of Balochistan today to oversee the ongoing relief work & express solidarity with the affected people. The federal government is working with the provincial government to provide immediate relief to the people. The work will be further accelerated," Shehbaz Sharif tweeted on July 30.

Shehbaz also announced compensation for the family of the deceased. "About 300 including 124 people from Balochistan have lost lives in the floods. Although there is no compensation for human life, the federal govt is paying Rs. 10 lakh to every household of the deceased. I have also ordered an increase in financial assistance for damaged houses," he said in another tweet.Despite the announcement of compensation, Pakistan writer Qasim Khan pointed out that despite knowing the possibility of heavy rainfall weeks before, the authorities come into action only after floods drowned hundreds of people and swept away thousands of houses. (ANI)

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