Islamabad  (TIP): The death toll from flash floods triggered by record monsoon rains across much of Pakistan reached 1,186 on September 1, as authorities scrambled to provide relief materials to tens of thousands of affected people. Record monsoon rains in the last three decades triggered floods which inundated one third of the country, including most of Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

“So far 1,186 people have died and 4,896 injured while 5,063 kms of roads damaged, 1,172,549 houses partially or completely destroyed and 733,488 livestock killed,” said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the main body dealing with calamities.

On Thursday, the army said that some 50,000 people have been evacuated since rescue efforts began.

Foreign Office spokesperson AsimIftikhar Ahmed said that more than 33 million people have been affected due to “colossal scale of devastation”.

During a media briefing here, he said Pakistan mounted coordinated rescue and relief operations mobilising all possible resources but the sheer scale of the calamity “stretched our resources and capacities to the limit, thus necessitating support from the international community”.

The cash-strapped Pakistan government on Tuesday teamed up with the United Nations to issue a flash appeal for USD 160 million to deal with the disaster in the country that has become the “ground zero” of global warming.

“The Flash Appeal launch was well attended by Member States both in Islamabad and Geneva, Heads of UN agencies in Pakistan, representatives of international organizations, among others. Participants offered condolences and expressions of solidarity, and assured continued support for Pakistan,” the spokesman said.

He also said that Pakistan faced a “climate-induced calamity” because the monsoons were not ordinary, “as the UNSG termed them ‘monsoons on steroid’.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be visiting Pakistan on September 9-10 on an important visit to “express solidarity and international community’s support for Pakistan at this difficult time,” he said.

Talking about the outpouring of relief supplies, he said till last night, Pakistan received flood relief goods through 21 flights notably from Turkey, UAE and China.

He said a large number of countries and international organisations pledged to support and are extending cash or in-kind assistance including Australia, Azerbaijan, Canada, China, EU, France, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, New Zealand, Norway, Palestine, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkiye, the UAE, United Kingdom, the United States, Uzbekistan, along with various international organisations including World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other UN Agencies. He said Pakistan on Wednesday signed the Green Framework Engagement Agreement with Denmark in Copenhagen, which marks the first step in creating stronger collaboration in areas such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, and a just and sustainable green transition.

Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while addressing lawmakers of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz asked them to visit the flood victims with relief goods. The prime minister said that he had never seen such a calamity before. “Water has wreaked havoc everywhere,” he said.

He also asked Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to devise a plan to give relief to the flood-affected people with electricity bills. Army chief General Qamar JavedBajwa visited the Rohjan area of Punjab and met flood victims whom he assured that the Pakistan Army will help them to overcome their problems in these difficult times, the army said.

He also directed ground troops to “take this responsibility as a noble cause and spare no effort to lessen the burden of flood-affected brothers and sisters”.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs Qamar Zaman Kaira said that Prime Minister Sharif would visit Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday and announce a relief package for the flood victims.

Separately, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) said in a statement that more than three million children were in need of humanitarian assistance in Pakistan and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to flooding.

“These floods have already taken a devastating toll on children and families, and the situation could become even worse,” the statement quoted Unicef representative in Pakistan Abdullah Fadil as saying.

To add to worries, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has forecast more rain in September, saying that La Nina conditions — responsible for recent spells of flood-triggering deluge in the country — would persist in September but become less intense.

“Tendency for normal to above normal precipitation is likely over the country during September,” the Met Office said, predicting above-normal rainfall in northeastern Punjab and Sindh. (PTI)