Floodwaters threaten a major dam in Pakistan’s northwest, adding to misery

Flooding threatens major dam in Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan issued new flood warnings Tuesday as more rains fell and rising water levels threatened to overwhelm one of the country’s biggest dams. At least 1,200 people have died so far in the worst flooding to hit Pakistan in generations.

Relief work has been hampered by submerged roads, washed out bridges, and downed communication lines, and survivors have complained about government inaction. Other countries, including the U.S., have pledged assistance to Pakistan, which was already struggling to control a rapacious and violent Taliban militant movement.

In the northwest, the hardest-hit region, new downpours added to the misery.

Rising water levels at Warsak Dam, the country’s third biggest, prompted disaster officials to ask residents in the northern outskirts of Peshawar city to leave their homes.

“If needed, forced evacuation will be started,” said Adnan Khan, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Authority of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province.

As bloated rivers flowed away from the northwest, they began to inundate villages in Punjab province in the east. Villagers in Mianwali, Layyah, Taunsa Sharif and Rajanpur were affected as floodwaters began to seep into their homes. Punjab is Pakistan’s most populous province and home to many of its biggest farms.

Some 2 million survivors of the floods require assistance, officials have said.

The northwest is the epicenter of Pakistan’s battle against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Alongside military and police operations, the government — with the support of the West — has tried to improve its services and living standards there to blunt the appeal of militancy.

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.

But many flood victims were unhappy with the response. About 300 people blocked a major road in the hard-hit Nowshera district to protest at receiving little or no aid, witnesses said.

At least one extremist group — a welfare organization allegedly linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist 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 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 cannot 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 in the northwest. Hundreds of people in makeshift shelters constructed from dirty sheets and plastic tarps were also there. “Everything else is buried.”