An aerial view of a flood-hit district of Sindh. Twitter
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it is working “quickly” to provide a “significant package of relief and rehabilitation” to help Pakistan tackle the devastation caused by this year’s floods, which have impacted over 33 million people and left a third of the country underwater.
In a statement, the ADB said the package would support people, livelihoods and infrastructure both immediately and in the long-term. Short-term, it said, funding for ongoing projects would be used to repair damage infrastructure, including roads and irrigation networks; and support the development and financial stability of the agriculture sector to boost food security.
“We’re also processing countercyclical support to help the poor and vulnerable, especially women and children, weather the impacts of food prices and other external shocks,” it said, adding that long-term, the focus would be on prioritizing projects that support post-flood reconstruction and strengthen climate and disaster resilience.
“We will provide more details of our new assistance package when it is finalized,” it said, emphasizing that it was working “closely” with the government and other international agencies to help rebuild the lives and livelihoods of the more than 33 million people affected by the disaster. “We stand with the people of Pakistan,” it added.
The ADB statement also clarified that the new package being developed was in addition to the $3 million it had already provided Pakistan for the immediate purchase of food, tents, and other relief goods.
Appeals for donations
Separately, in a briefing on the current flood situation, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who is also chairing the National Flood Response Coordination Center, urged Pakistanis who had not been impacted by the floods to donate generously to help their “brothers and sisters” who currently had no homes and were facing a lack of food and healthcare. Clarifying that the government was working on an “adopt a district program,” he said this would help divert resources from areas that had been spared the floods to regions requiring urgent attention.
“We are sending requests to provincial governments for this program,” he said, stressing areas of Punjab, especially, should help residents of Sindh and Balochistan who had faced the worst of floods.
Casualties still rising
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in its latest situation report, said 15 new deaths had been reported in the previous 24 hours, raising total deaths due to this year’s rains since mid-June to 1,559, with 12,850 others injured.
Damages to infrastructure also continue to mount, with the NDMA saying 15,479 homes were recorded as partially damaged in the previous 24 hours, and 5,644 fully destroyed, in addition to 13,813 losses to livestock—all in Sindh. Nationwide losses to livestock have now climbed to 973,632, while 1.17 million homes have been partially damaged and 787,918 homes fully destroyed.
Authorities in Sindh said they had treated 70,000 people in various medical camps in the previous 24 hours, adding 2.7 million patients had been treated since July 1.