Pakistan flood death toll rises as biggest lake threatens to burst its banks
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountains have brought floods that have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,314
05 September 2022 - 11:21
byAsif Shahzad and Syed Raza Hassan
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A flood victim takes refuge with his belongings as floodwater rises, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Sohbatpur, Pakistan, on September 4 2022. Picture: REUTERS/AMER HUSSAIN
Islamabad/Karachi — Pakistani authorities are struggling to prevent the country’s biggest lake bursting its banks and inundating nearby towns after unprecedented flooding, while the disaster management agency on Monday raised its toll of flood deaths by another 24.
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountains have brought floods that have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,314, including 458 children, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Agency said.
The floods have followed record-breaking summer temperatures and the government and the UN have both blamed climate change for the extreme weather and the devastation it has brought.
Authorities on Sunday breached Pakistan’s largest freshwater lake, displacing up to 100,000 people from their homes in the hope of draining enough water to stop the lake bursting its banks and swamping more densely populated areas.
But water levels in the lake, to the west of the Indus river in the southern province of Sindh, remain dangerously high.
“The water level at Manchar lake has not come down,” Jam Khan Shoro, the provincial minister for irrigation told Reuters.
He declined to say if another attempt to drain water from the lake would be made.
The floods are a huge burden for an economy already needing help from the International Monetary Fund.
The UN has called for $16m (R2.8bn) in aid to help the victims of the floods but finance minister Miftah Ismail said the cost of the damage was far higher than that.
“The total damage is close to $10bn, perhaps more,” Ismail said in an interview with CNBC.
“Clearly it is not enough. In spite of meagre resources Pakistan will have to do much of the heavy lifting.”
Nevertheless, help from abroad is arriving.
Relief flights from the UN and countries including Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates arrived on Monday, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Elsewhere in the region, floods are also threatening crisis-hit Sri Lanka, while rains have disrupted life in India’s technology hub, Bangalore.
The northern summer is the rainy season across much of Asia.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Pakistan flood death toll rises as biggest lake threatens to burst its banks
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountains have brought floods that have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,314
Islamabad/Karachi — Pakistani authorities are struggling to prevent the country’s biggest lake bursting its banks and inundating nearby towns after unprecedented flooding, while the disaster management agency on Monday raised its toll of flood deaths by another 24.
Record monsoon rains and melting glaciers in Pakistan’s northern mountains have brought floods that have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,314, including 458 children, Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Agency said.
The floods have followed record-breaking summer temperatures and the government and the UN have both blamed climate change for the extreme weather and the devastation it has brought.
Authorities on Sunday breached Pakistan’s largest freshwater lake, displacing up to 100,000 people from their homes in the hope of draining enough water to stop the lake bursting its banks and swamping more densely populated areas.
But water levels in the lake, to the west of the Indus river in the southern province of Sindh, remain dangerously high.
“The water level at Manchar lake has not come down,” Jam Khan Shoro, the provincial minister for irrigation told Reuters.
He declined to say if another attempt to drain water from the lake would be made.
The floods are a huge burden for an economy already needing help from the International Monetary Fund.
The UN has called for $16m (R2.8bn) in aid to help the victims of the floods but finance minister Miftah Ismail said the cost of the damage was far higher than that.
“The total damage is close to $10bn, perhaps more,” Ismail said in an interview with CNBC.
“Clearly it is not enough. In spite of meagre resources Pakistan will have to do much of the heavy lifting.”
Nevertheless, help from abroad is arriving.
Relief flights from the UN and countries including Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates arrived on Monday, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Elsewhere in the region, floods are also threatening crisis-hit Sri Lanka, while rains have disrupted life in India’s technology hub, Bangalore.
The northern summer is the rainy season across much of Asia.
Reuters
Flood-hit Pakistan breaches lake as water reaches dangerous levels
Pakistan army rescues 2,000 people stranded by floods
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