Ekeomah Atuonwu
More than 1,000 people have died as a result of flooding in Pakistan, which has prompted the government to make an appeal for foreign assistance. The flooding catastrophe also poses a threat to submerge a third of the nation, an area roughly the size of Britain.
According to Pakistan’s foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, financial assistance is required because floods brought on by weeks of intense monsoonal rain and melting glaciers will worsen the country’s already precarious economic situation.
Bhutto-Zardari said he hoped the flooding situation would persuade the IMF’s board this week to release $1.2bn as part of the seventh and eighth tranches of Pakistan’s bailout program. The south Asian country is dealing with high inflation, a sinking currency, and a current account deficit.
On aircraft from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, the first foreign aid started to seep into Pakistan on Monday. This marked the beginning of a massive relief mission to lessen the effects of the disaster, which has affected around 33 million people and submerged large portions of the nation.
As many settlements in the hilly northern areas are shut off by flood-swollen rivers that wiped away roads and bridges, the death toll from the deluges, which has now reached at least 1,061, is expected to grow.
In the north, where dangerous flying circumstances result from steep hills and valleys, the army’s helicopters were straining to rescue people and bring them to safety.
Many rivers in the area – a picturesque tourist destination – have burst their banks, demolishing scores of buildings, including a 150-room hotel that crumbled into a raging torrent.
It came as the country’s climate minister warned that one-third of Pakistan could be underwater by the time this year’s “monster monsoon” recedes.
