Aerial view of inundated villages and croplands in Sindh. Photo courtesy Twitter
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Friday announced that, with 22 new deaths reported in the previous 24 hours, total casualties due to rains across Pakistan since mid-June this year have now climbed to 1,508.
According to the NDMA, 664 men, 308 women and 536 children have died due to this year’s floods, with 48 casualties in Pakistan-administered Kashmir; 294 Balochistan; 22 Gilgit-Baltistan; 1 Islamabad; 306 Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa; 191 Punjab; and 646 in Sindh. At the same time, 12,758 people have been injured, with Sindh again the worst-hit at 8,321, followed by 3,858 injuries in Punjab; 369 KP; 181 Balochistan; 24 Pakistan-administered Kashmir; and 5 in GB.
The NDMA said another 36,547 homes had been partially or fully damaged by this year’s floods in the past 24 hours, while 9,070 livestock had been confirmed to have perished. Overall, 1.21 million homes have been partially damaged nationwide; 581,521 have been completely destroyed; and 927,543 livestock have been killed. Sindh, once again, has suffered the brunt of the damage, reporting 1.07 million homes partially damaged and 500,249 destroyed.
The Benazir Income Support Program said that it had, thus far, disbursed Rs. 24.36 billion among 974,512 beneficiaries. It said 161,148 beneficiaries had yet to be provided cash handouts, adding that Rs. 4.03 billion had been allocated for them.
Flash appeal
Earlier this week, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Julien Harneis told a press briefing that the flash appeal jointly launched by Pakistan and the global body for an initial funding of $160 million had received pledges equal to $150 million, but had only secured $38.35 million of this amount. “The main donors are the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Denmark, Australia, Singapore and others besides the Central Emergency Response Fund of the United Nations, which raised $10 million,” he said, adding that while funding was progressing well, needs in Pakistan were shifting, as waters receded and concerns mounted for the wellbeing of victims.
“Across the board, we can say this $160 million flash appeal is not going to be sufficient,” he said, noting it had only targeted the six million worst-hit people from September through February 2023. “We are in discussion with the government and other partners, and based on evaluations and assessments, revision of the flash appeal is required,” he added.