The death toll from floods has crossed 1,100 in Pakistan and over 33 million—one in every seven—Pakistanis have been affected.
At least 1,136 people have died and 1,634 have been injured since 14 June from the rains and floods, said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in a statement. It further said that 28 people had died in the previous 24 hours, and authorities were still trying to reach cut-off villages in the mountainous north.
The NDMA said more than two million acres of cultivated crops have been wiped out; 3,457 kilometres (about 2,200 miles) of roads have been destroyed; and 157 bridges have been washed away.
Looking at the situation, the Pakistan coalition government on Monday approved the establishment of the National Flood Response and Coordination Center to provide an institutional response to the flood calamity.
“The centre will serve as a bridge between disaster management authorities, donors and government institutions,” PM Shehbaz announced on his Twitter handle.
He further added that the centre will collect and analyse the latest information and pass it on to the relevant government agencies. It will also oversee rescue and relief work, including the restoration of infrastructure.
Pakistan is grappling with its worst natural disaster in over a decade. The floods have affected the lives of millions of people, after which the Pakistan government declared a “national emergency”. The NDMA’s latest survey shows that 5,773,063 people have been affected by the floods. However, it clarified that the data in today’s survey was based on confirmed figures, but its estimates showed that more than 33 million people had been affected by the floods. The authorities shared that 51,275 have been rescued while 498,442 have been moved to relief camps.
The NDMA shared that Pakistan’s 30-year average showed that the country has received 134mm of rain and this year it received 388.7mm of rain. 190.07 per cent more than the average. As of August 25, Pakistan has experienced 375.4 mm of rainfall, 2.87 times higher than the national 30-year average of 130.8 mm. These rains have primarily fallen on Balochistan, Sindh and parts of Punjab, with Balochistan receiving five times its average 30-year rainfall and Sindh receiving 5.7 times its average, the statement reads.