Pakistan flood survivors salvage the little they have
Relief efforts in Pakistan’s flood, ravaged northwest picked up pace,
but survivors complained about Government inaction, a worrying sign for
authorities seeking public support for the fight against militants in
the region.
Flood-displaced Pakistanis from Majuky village live in a tent in the
outskirts of Charsadda |
A flood-affected Pakistani family load belongings onto a truck
in Majuky village near Charsadda |
Pakistani flood survivors cross a damage bridge in Medain, a
town of Swat valley on August 2, 2010. Pictures AFP |
Around 300 people blocked a major road in the hard, hit Nowshera
district to protest at receiving little or no aid, witnesses said. Other
survivors returned to devastated villages, wading through waist, high
water to salvage chairs, plates and other possessions, a wall clock, a
battered fridge, from beneath mud and debris.
“We have nothing, we are just depending on the mercy of God. Nothing
left except this wet wheat,” said Marjan Khan, sorting through piles of
the grain laid out on wooden beds.
Scores of bridges, roads and buildings have been washed away by the
torrents, which were triggered by exceptionally heavy monsoon rain. The
floods are the worst in a generation, and weather forecasters say more
rains are due to fall south and central Pakistan.
The death toll was at least 1,200 on Monday, with up to two million
survivors requiring assistance.
The northwest is the epicentre of Pakistan’s battle against al-Qaida
and the Taliban. Alongside military and police operations, the
Government, with the support of the West, is trying to improve its
services and living standards there to blunt the appeal of militancy.
The Swat Valley, which has yet to recover from a major Pakistani army
offensive against the insurgents just over a year ago, is one of the
areas worst affected by the floods. Large parts of the upper valley,
reached by a riverside road, are inaccessible.
The Pakistani army, which has the helicopters, boats and
infrastructure needed for relief work, is delivering food, medicine and
tents, as are Government agencies and several different political
parties and welfare organizations.
At least one extremist group, a welfare organization allegedly linked
to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror network, is also helping survivors. The
group, Falah-e-Insaniat, helped civilians fleeing the Swat offensive as
well as after other disasters.
The United States, keen for an opportunity to win friends in the
region, is providing $10 million dollars in emergency
A Pakistani man carries a fan salvaged from his flood-affected
home in Majuky village near Charsadda |
A Pakistani man gathers up some of his belongings outside his
flooded house in Nowshera |
Pakistani flood victims use a cable trolly to cross a river onto
a damaged bridge in Medain, a town of Swat valley |
assistance. It has also provided rescue boats, water filtration
units, prefabricated steel bridges and thousands of packaged meals that
are being distributed by the army and the Government. Other foreign
countries, aid groups and the United Nations have promised or are
delivering aid. But for victims now mostly surviving in baking hot camps
or in the open, it can not come quick enough.
“This is the only shirt I have,” said Faisal Islam, sitting on a
highway median, the only dry ground he could find in Camp Koroona
village. Hundreds of people in makeshift shelters constructed from dirty
sheets and plastic tarps were also there. “Everything else is buried.”
President Asif Ali Zardari and several top ministers and aides left
on Sunday for a trip to France and Britain, prompting criticism from
opposition politicians.
In Swat, one man drowned as he tried to cross the swollen Swat River
sitting in a plastic tire, witnesses said.
Many riverside hotels in the scenic region have been destroyed.
Before the Taliban took control of the valley and the military operation
to oust them, tourism was a mainstay of the local economy. It had yet to
recover even before the floods.
“The people here all are coping on their own,” said resident Ali
Shah. “People looking for food and medicines are being helped by other
people, not by the Government or its agencies.” The Pakistan Red
Crescent and International Red Cross said they were distributing aid and
evaluating further needs in areas isolated by washed, out bridges and
roads.
The floods are especially dire because so many people lost all that
they had, said Muhammad Ateeb Siddiqui, the Red Crescent’s director of
operations. “We now need to urgently distribute not only food but also
the means to cook it,” he said.
“The distribution of relief is severely constrained by damaged
infrastructure, and the widespread contamination of water supplies has
the potential to create major health problems.” The agencies said the
floods would shift south in the coming days as waters moved downstream. |