Locals race to save Dadu; Rs1b medicines required for flood victims
The efforts are underway to save Dadu which was hit by floods as a surge of water flowed down the Indus River.
The efforts are underway to save Dadu which was hit by floods as a surge of water flowed down the Indus River, whereas, medicines worth approximately Rs1 billion were required for the flood victims.
Sindh braced for yet more flooding on Thursday as a surge of water flowed down the Indus river, leaving parts of Dadu district inundated.
Meanwhile, Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman told a summit that “monster” monsoon floods had washed away 45 per cent of country’s cropland, mainly in Sindh and caused around $10 billion in damages on the whole. In her estimation, around 70pc districts in the country are now under water. Overall, a third of Pakistan — or an area roughly the size of the UK — is inundated, Dawn News reported.
According to official data, the number of affected districts now stands at 110, including 34 in Balochistan, 33 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 16 in Sindh and the rest in Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.
In Dadu, with Khairpur Nathan Shah city already submerged, residents of Johi and Mehar were racing against time to protect their cities.
The 50,000 citizens of Johi and 10,000 flood-affected people who have come here from various flood-hit villages are under threat as water level was rising along with the ring embankment in Johi city.
Tariq Rind, a resident of Johi, told Dawn that 600 villages of Dadu district had been submerged and many people were stranded amid a shortage of boats. They are also faced with food and water scarcity.
To reduce pressure on the embankments of Johi and Dadu cities, the irrigation department has made a 1,000-foot-wide cut at the MNV drain close to Manchhar lake.
Men, women and children have gathered to work shifts to form new dikes and reinforce existing ones using sandbags, stones and other materials. Apart from fellow residents, songs blaring from loudspeakers are a major morale booster for those working tirelessly to put anything in the way of water ready to swallow vast swathes of the landscape.
The floods have killed at least 1,191 people, including 399 children, with 21 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.
The Met Office has predicted even more rains and flash floods this month. “Overall, a tendency for normal to above normal precipitation is likely over the country during September,” it said in a monthly outlook released on Thursday.
Medicines’ requirement
With an estimated five million people at risk of various diseases after being displaced across the country following heavy rains and floods, medical experts and aid organisations have warned that medicines worth over a billion rupees are immediately needed in the affected areas, which they believe can only be generated through donations by pharmaceutical companies, Dawn News reported.
“As the disaster is huge, the response should be the same,” said Sufyan Khan, the managing director of Al Khidmat Foundation’s (AKF) health division, at a joint press conference at the Karachi Press Club along with key members of the Pakistan Society of Health-System Pharmacists, local pharmaceutical firm Pharmevo, senior doctors and health experts.
“International trends and studies lead to an estimate that some five million people are at risk of different diseases. If we keep the minimum medicine price for each patient at Rs220, medicines worth at least a billion rupees would be required.”
Haroon Qasim of Pharmevo shared his reservations based on past experiences when mismanagement, lack of experience and unchecked supplies led to leakages, wastage of medicines worth millions and “mafias” exploiting the situation. He then referred to guidelines prepared by the PSHP carrying details of several medicines as basic first-aid supplies.
