Pictures and video clips appearing in Washington Post and New York Times highlight the sufferings of the flood affected population. As floodwaters rush towards Sindh after ravaging Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the latter emerges as the most badly hit province so far. At least 1,200 people are reported to have been killed in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa compared to over 40 in Punjab.
This happened because the heavy rainfall and flash floods took the people in the province by surprise while Punjab had the benefit of forewarning. If projections regarding the safety of Guddu Barrage and Sukkur Barrage turn out to be correct, the losses in human and material terms are likely to be even lesser in Sindh.
Among the factors that made the losses in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa heavy was the shortage of the necessary rescue equipment. The harrowing video clip, posted in New York Times on August 2 underlines the point. Entitled "Eyewitness video of Pakistan floods", shows men, women and children in a village surrounded by rushing floodwaters trying desperately to cross over to the Motorway.
There seems to be no hope for them as the fast flowing floodwaters continue to rise. Some of the villagers are apparently washed away. The irony is that the village reportedly happens to be outside the capital city of Peshawar and still no boat is available to save the people. The gallery of pictures in Washington Post on August 4 depicts the destruction in Swat, and the flooding of Peshawar, Nowshehra and Dera Ismail Khan.
The pictures show submerged roads, washed out bridges and downed communication lines hampering relief work. As happened after the 2005 earthquake, volunteers are seen helping the affected population. A picture shows a volunteer with a boat ferrying villagers across the flooded area. Another picture shows a local philanthropist distributing free food.
One can also see the army rescuing the affected population and army helicopters evacuating people to safe places. A picture shows survivors walking over a makeshift suspension bridge built by the army. A caption under a picture of destroyed buildings in Swat's Madyan town reads "The US was quick to announce an assistance package that includes $10 million and nearly 200,000 meals, but those contributions are little more than a rumour in some of the worst-hit areas". This underlines a basic problem.
Rescue efforts are incommensurate with the extra large scale of the disaster. People in the inaccessible areas are yet to be approached. A United Nations assessment tells of around 980,000 people having lost their homes or been temporarily displaced, at least a million need emergency help and tens of thousands are at risk of disease.
Concerns remained that only a fraction of the 3.2 million people affected by the flash floods and landslides could access aid. After Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the worst hit area so far is south Punjab where 500,000 people are reportedly stranded in Dera Ghazi Khan alone, while, according to the Army, 132,000 have been rescued and shifted to safe areas in southern Punjab.
Seven districts have borne the brunt of the flood and at least 1.1 million acres of crops have been destroyed. According to ISPR chief, army has sent 50 boats and four helicopters to evacuate marooned people and has shifted 4,000 people to safe places in Muzaffargarh district.
PAF's entire C-130 fleet along with seven helicopters is involved in rescue work all over the country, we are told. The US has also sent six aircraft including four CH-47 Chinook helicopters and two UH-60 Blackhawk utility helicopters to undertake flood assistance operations.
Many more planes are needed to drop food and water bottles and to ferry those stranded in far off areas urgently. In other hilly areas with no proper communication system mules have to be deployed to carry food, water and medicines.
There is a need for mobile hospitals complete with operation theatres and X-ray facilities backed by electricity generators. Once rescue has been affected, the government will have to undertake the forbidding task of rehabilitation. The two activities require large funds. According to NDMA chief, $62 million have been pledged by international donors for flood relief. What remains to be seen is how much of the amount promised is finally delivered.