ISLAMABAD: The death tally from the ongoing devastating floods has reached 1,396 as another five people have died in the past 24 hours in the country, and the flood waters have also left six more people injured, damaged 4,179 houses, and killed 731 livestock, data released by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
Following six additional injuries the national toll has jumped to 12,728, the number of damaged houses to 1,743,345, livestock lost 750,223, and roads swept away 6,689 kilometres. The authorities have revised upwards the number of destroyed bridges from 246 to 269 as in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa the number of destroyed bridges has gone up from 84 to 107, the NDMA’s provisional data showed.
According to the NDMA’s report, in the past 24 hours, Balochistan reported four deaths, Sindh one death, KPK six injures; another 2,114 houses were damaged in Sindh and 2,065 in KPK, while 245 livestock were lost in KPK and 486 in Sindh.
The NDMA further said that the River Indus at Kotri is in high flood level, while at Sukkur in low flood level. The authorities are carrying out a joint survey/ damage assessment in 26 flood-affected districts. The floods have affected 81 districts out of 160 districts of the country.
According to the official data, the floods that started on June 14, 2022, have so far claimed the lives 617 men, 280women, and 499 children.
Sindh province with 578 deaths and 8,321 injuries is the worst flood-affected province of the country, wherein, around 1.53 million houses are also damaged, of which,489,340 are fully destroyed and over one million are partially damaged, while 23,606 livestock is also lost owing to the record floods of the country’s history.
A total 2,687.7kilometers of roads network and 63 bridges are also damaged in Sindh. KPK has reported 293 flood-related deaths, 357 injuries, destruction of 90,554 houses, of which, 52,965are partially and 37,589are fully damaged, while 1,589 kilometers of roads and 84 bridges are also swept away in rainwaters, while 20,719 livestock also are lost in KPK.
Balochistan has reported 267deaths, 166injuries, 64,385houses damaged, of which, 45,975 partially and 18,410are fully destroyed, 18 bridges, 1,500 kilometers of roads swept away, and over half a million livestock lost.
Punjab reported 191flood-related deaths, 3,858injuries and 59,078 houses damaged, of which,36,477 partially and 22,601 fully, while a total of 205,106 livestock is also killed in floodwaters.
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) has reported 22 flood-relateddeaths, five injuries, 1,164 houses damaged,of which, 618 partially and 546 fully, 65 bridges and 16 kilometers of roads are also swept away in the rainwaters. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) reported 44 flood-related deaths, 21 injuries, 521houses damaged,of which, 219 partially and 302 fully destroyed, while 792 livestock are also lost in the AJK. The Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has reported one flood-related death so far.
The widespread floods triggered by monsoon rains have not only resulted in the deaths of about 1,400 persons, damaged over 1.71 million houses, destroyed6,689 kilometers of road networks across the country, and swept away 246 bridges but have also destroyed standing paddy, cotton, vegetables, fruits and dates crops across the country, especially in Sindh and Balochistan, which according to rough estimates have caused hundreds of billions of rupees in losses to the agriculture economy.
An estimated Rs1.74 trillion financial losses have incurred to the residential buildings, considering average cost of a damaged house Rs1,000,000, Rs56.6 billion financial losses to livestock calculating the cost of each animal at Rs75,000.Moreover, financial losses owing to the destruction/damages to powerhouses, roads, bridges, gas pipelines, power transmission lines, railway tracks, trucks and other vehicles are in addition to it.
The floodwater also ruined sugarcane, onion, tomato, and other Kharif vegetable crops, said the report, adding rice, sesame seeds, and other crops were also damaged.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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