Pakistan flood aid tops $800 mn

ISLAMABAD - Aid received for Pakistan’s flood victims is almost double the amount requested by the UN, the country’s foreign minister said Sunday, as relief workers struggled to save dozens of villages and towns from flooding.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the generous assistance was “encouraging”, especially at a time when Europe and the US were facing economic problems.

“The total cash and pledges that Pakistan has got so far are $815.58 million,” Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad, adding that the country was grateful to the international community.

The UN had appealed for $460 million to provide immediate food, shelter and health care for those affected by the floods.

The monsoon-triggered floods that began late July have spread from the north to the south of the country, swelling rivers and submerging hundreds of villages.

The water had started to recede from much of the northern and central regions, but it was devastating parts of southern province of Sindh before pouring into the Indian Ocean.

“Water levels are rising in the Indus River and at least two districts are at risk,” said Khair Mohmad Kalor, director of operations at Sindh’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

“There are two dozens points (embankments) from where the water from the Indus river can flow out and we are trying to strengthen these points.”

“One serious problem we are facing is that the Indus river is not flowing into the sea very quickly because of the high tide,” Kalor said. “The water is accumulating in the tail of the Indus and breaching the banks.”

The floodwater levels were likely to remain high for “at least four or five more days”, he added.

The rising waters had displaced 94,000 more people in the past 12 hours in Thatta district alone, Kalor said early Sunday.

More than 15 million across Pakistan have been affected by the floods, which have submerged one-fifth of the country and laid waste to infrastructure and crop land.

Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh was to meet officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington Monday, to discuss the economic consequences of the disaster.

As concern grew about the spread of disease, the news channel Dunya reported Sunday that at least nine people had died of the water-borne gastroenteritis.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was to hold a meeting Tuesday with the UN and aid agencies to discuss health measures.