Agency / Anadolu
The flood disaster in Pakistan is claiming more and more victims. Children in particular are affected.
The Pakistani authorities have warned of new floods for the weekend. Pakistan has been battling heavy rain for weeks. Rivers burst their banks, entire regions are under water. According to official information, at times a third of the country was under water, almost 1,500 people died in the floods, and 33 million Pakistanis are affected, for example because they had to leave their homes or lost their property.
The death toll could be even higher. Several regions are still difficult to access, says Scott Whoolery. He is Chief of Field Operations for the children’s charity Unicef in Pakistan and is currently traveling in the southwestern province of Baluchistan. “The number of victims will increase,” says Whoolery, unlike in other years, this time the whole country is affected. Villages are cut off and can only be reached by helicopter or boat. It is difficult to send these people relief supplies such as tents or hygiene items.
diarrhea, dengue fever and malaria
“We’ve been to places where the situation is very bad,” says Whoolery. People live in improvised camps, temperatures are currently around 40 degrees, and diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and diarrhea are rampant. This is particularly dangerous for the children, many are malnourished. On Thursday, Unicef released a report that at least 528 children have already lost their lives as a result of the flood disaster.
A patient suffering from dengue fever is being treated at a hospital in Peshawar. With the floods, diseases such as dengue and malaria are also on the rise.
In the southern province of Sindh alone, 90,000 people had to be treated for medical problems on Thursday. In addition to diarrhea and malaria, thousands of patients complain about skin problems.
The water is retreating in some regions, and people in the province of Sindh, but also in the south of the province of Punjab, can return to their villages. There, however, they encounter destroyed infrastructure: there is no longer any clean water, and medical facilities and schools have also been washed away.
Whoolery believes that the relief effort in Pakistan will take a long time. According to Pakistani authorities, some areas could remain under water for up to six months.
Belt and Road projects affected
According to official figures, the flood damage should amount to 30 billion dollars. Many infrastructure projects are under water, so too several buildings and construction sites of the Chinese Belt and Road project, the Chinese newspaper “Global Times” reports – Pakistan plays a key role in the Chinese flagship project. In recent weeks, the Pakistani authorities have done their utmost to keep power plants in operation and to continue to guarantee the power supply. The US alone has promised $50 million in aid.
Around a third of the southern province of Sindh is under water.
Pakistan was already struggling with an economic crisis before the floods, and just a few weeks ago the International Monetary Fund approved a new aid package for the country. As Bloomberg reports, Pakistan’s government bonds remain low on the stock exchanges – investors do not believe that the South Asian country will recover from the floods anytime soon. Pakistan itself has halved its growth forecasts for the coming year.
In addition, the political situation in the country is muddled: the deposed prime minister, Imran Khan, wants to return to power and is sabotaging all the transitional government’s efforts. New elections are scheduled for 2023. For its part, the government is raising terrorism charges against Khan over a inflammatory speech, but the case is currently on hold.
More rain due to global warming
Meanwhile, scientists are investigating what caused the floods in Pakistan. This August, the country experienced three times as much rain as in previous years. An international group of scientists published this week a study and came to the conclusion that the amount of rain in the monsoon had increased with global warming: In the particularly affected provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan, the rain was 75 percent more intense over a 5-day period than in pre-industrial times. In the Indus River basin region, i.e. in Pakistan and India, rainfall is up to 50 percent more intense over a 60-day period.
People displaced by the floods in Jaffarabad in the hard-hit Baluchistan province.
The researchers write that such large amounts of rain are becoming more likely with global warming. However, the results should be taken with caution, as the amount of monsoon rain can vary greatly. The high amount of rain could also have other reasons besides global warming.