The flood in Pakistan is the worst in the country’s history. A third of the country is now under water. Now the authorities in the country are warning that there may be more flooding because the water level in lakes is rising. In the last couple of days, an news team has tried to travel around Sindh province. Here, people in some places waited for help for eight days, before they were rescued yesterday. Over 33 million people are affected. Around 1,200 have died. Over 400 of them are children. The need for emergency aid is enormous. But getting help is very difficult. Masses of water have washed away roads, bridges and railway lines. It is particularly difficult in the two southern provinces of Baluchistan and Sindh. 100,000 had to move On Sunday, a hole was made in an embankment by Lake Manchar to release water. The lake has been so full that the local authorities have feared that the dams would burst, writes Reuters. The aim of releasing water in this way is to prevent water from collecting in more densely populated areas, and to reduce the water level in the hardest hit areas, say the authorities. Despite the draining of the lake, the water level has continued to rise. Therefore, around 100,000 people in the villages around the lake are being asked to move. A family that has fled the disaster has settled in one of the camps set up by aid workers. Photo: Zahid Hussain / AP It is not known whether all the 100,000 who were asked to move actually did so. Several have complained about overcrowded camps, while others do not want to leave what they own. The flu comes in stages One of those trying to help is Faisal Edhi. He heads Pakistan’s largest aid organization, the Edhi Foundation. For two months, several hundred volunteers from his organization have been out in the field. He tells news that the work is very difficult and that the embarrassment comes in stages. The net is down in the fluff area. An old map of the province of Sindh and local knowledge are now worth their weight in gold. Faisal Edhi, head of Pakistan’s largest aid organization the Edhi Foundation. Photo: Atta Ansari / news At first there were enormous amounts of rain. It led to great devastation in the southern provinces. Then the flounder came from the north, explains Edhi. He says that the rivers that flow in Pakistan come from the Himalayas and Hindukush where global warming has caused the glaciers to melt quickly. – Several rivers overflowed and once again large areas were under water. Earlier this week, he criticized the central government and said that they had started emergency aid too late. People who have been waiting for rescue boats for several days. Photo: Asif Afridi On Saturday, Pakistan asked for international emergency aid. – The destruction is massive, and it requires a comprehensive response. I appeal to my countrymen in Pakistan, Pakistanis in other countries and the international community to support Pakistan when the country needs it, said Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal at a press conference. Asking for visas for aid workers The Norwegian Red Cross says it is urgent to get people out of the dangerous areas in Pakistan, and ensure that people get food, clean water and healthcare. Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross, Bernt Apeland. Photo: Red Cross Secretary General Bernt Apeland says it is now important that the governing authorities ensure that everyone who wants to help can do so. – They must grant visas to international aid workers so that we can put capacities and resources in place and save as many as possible. This can be decisive in getting help, says Apeland to news. – We see that it is difficult to get visas for international aid workers. This means that the efforts needed may be delayed. Concern for the children Save the Children in Pakistan is also concerned about the situation in the country. Director Khuram Gondal says that children are particularly vulnerable in the crisis Pakistan is facing now. – We at Save the Children are particularly concerned that 16 million children need help after they have lost everything. They have had to flee. We see children who are separated from their parents. They are not allowed to go to school and lack access to healthcare. It is devastating, he says to the news agency AP. A secondary school for girls underwater in KN Shah. Many places are as deep as 40 feet. Photo: Asif Afridi The head of the humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger in Pakistan, Jennifer Ankrom-Khan, is also concerned about the situation. She tells Sky News that it is difficult to get help to the affected areas in the district. “Because of this, we don’t know the whole situation yet. The crisis will continue, probably also for the next few weeks,” she says. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday sent out a plea to aid organizations via Twitter, where he asked for help to deal with the many child deaths the country is now seeing. – Pakistan is now struggling with one of the worst climate crises. Children are among the hardest hit. With over 400 dead, they make up a third of the death toll, he wrote. Trucks in a 10-mile-long queue In Sindh province, a queue of trucks over 100 kilometers long has formed on the highway between the towns of Nawabsha and Sukkur. According to the news team, the stagnant water on both sides of the motorway is several meters deep. Lorry drivers have been waiting for up to seven days in temperatures of up to 40 degrees. The stagnant water along the motorway makes it difficult for cars to get through. Photo: Atta Ansari / news Many truck drivers in Pakistan are poorly afforded. A restaurant owner in the town of Moro tells news about starving lorry drivers begging for food. Several have not had access to food and water. On Sunday morning, the motorway was partially opened, but the queues are still long.
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Many people are waiting for emergency aid in Pakistan – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
