ISLAMABAD: Another 36 people have lost their lives owing to the ongoing devastating floods triggered by record high monsoon rains in the past 24 hours in Pakistan and the rainwater damaged 26,652 houses and killed 1,521 livestock, the data released by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
Following the fresh damages, the national flood death tally has reached 1,391, the injured toll 12,722, the number of damaged houses 1,739,166, livestock lost 754,708, roads swept away 6,689 kilometers and 246 bridges destroyed, the NDMA’s provisional data stated.
According to the NDMA’s report, in the past 24 hours, most of the damages were reported in Sindh province, wherein the rainwater has resulted in the deaths of 35 people, destroying 26,506 houses, killing 1,521 livestock, and sweeping away 109.7 kilometers of roads. The data reported one flood-related death in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, 99 houses damaged in KPK, and 47 in Balochistan.
The NDMA further said that the River Indus at Kotri is at high flood level, while at Sukkur it is at low flood level, while the authorities are carrying out a joint survey/damage assessment in 26 flood-affected districts.
According to official data, the floods that started on June 14, 2022, have so far claimed 1,391 lives including 616 men, 279 women, and 496 children.
Sindh province with 577 deaths and 8,321 injuries is the worst flood-affected province of the country, wherein around 1.52 million houses are also damaged, of which 488,405 are fully destroyed and over one million are partially damaged while 28,336 livestock are also lost owing to the record floods of the country’s history.
A total 2,687.7 kilometers of roads network and 63 bridges are also damaged in Sindh. The KPK has reported 293 flood-related deaths, 351 injuries, destruction of 88,489 houses, of which, 52,904 are partially and 35,585 are fully damaged, while 1,589 kilometers of roads and 84 bridges are also swept away in rainwater.
Balochistan has reported 263 deaths, 166 injuries, and 64,385 houses damaged, of which, 45,975 partially and 18,410 are fully destroyed, 18 bridges, 1,500 kilometers of roads swept away and over half a million livestock lost.
Punjab reported 191 flood-related deaths, 3,858 injuries, and 59,078 houses damaged, of which 36,477 partially and 22,601 fully damaged, while a total 205,106 livestock also killed in floodwaters.
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) has reported 22 flood reported deaths, five injuries, 1,164 houses damaged of which 618 partially and 546 fully destroyed, 65 bridges and 16 kilometers of roads also swept away in 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 death of about 1,400 people, damaged over 1.71 million houses, destroyed 6,689 kilometers of road networks across the country, 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 Rs 1.74 trillion financial losses have incurred to the residential buildings, considering average cost of a damaged house as Rs 1,000,000, Rs 56.6 billion financial losses to livestock calculating the cost of each animal at Rs 75,000. 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 this.
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