Millions battle Pakistan floods as deaths since June hit 1,136

SUKKUR (Pakistan) • Tens of millions of people across swathes of Pakistan were yesterday battling the worst monsoon floods in a decade, with countless homes washed away, vital farmland destroyed, and the country's main river, the Indus, threatening to burst its banks.

Officials say 1,136 people have died since June when the seasonal rains began, but the final toll could be higher as hundreds of villages in the mountainous north have been cut off after flood-swollen rivers washed away roads and bridges.

The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but it can also bring destruction.

This year's flooding has affected more than 33 million people - one in seven Pakistanis - said the National Disaster Management Authority. It has also caused more than US$10 billion (S$14 billion) worth of damage.

"What we see now is an ocean of water submerging entire districts," Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said yesterday. "This is very far from a normal monsoon - it is climate dystopia at our doorstep."

The navy has been deployed for the first time, she added.

This year's floods are comparable to 2010 - the worst on record - when more than 2,000 people died and nearly a fifth of the country was under water. Much of Sindh is now an endless landscape of water, hampering a massive military-led relief operation. "There are no landing strips or approaches available... our pilots find it difficult to land," one senior officer said.

The army's helicopters were also struggling to pluck people to safety in the north, where soaring mountains and deep valleys make for treacherous flying conditions.

Many rivers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province - which boasts some of Pakistan's best tourist spots - have burst their banks, demolishing scores of buildings, including a 150-room hotel that crumbled into a raging torrent. The government has declared an emergency and appealed for international help, and on Sunday the first aid flights arrived - from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The flooding could not have come at a worse time for Pakistan, where the economy is in free fall. The International Monetary Fund executive board was scheduled to meet in Washington yesterday to decide whether to green-light the resumption of a US$6 billion loan programme essential for the country to service its foreign debt, but it is already clear the country will need more to repair and rebuild after this monsoon.

The prices of basic goods - particularly onions, tomatoes and chickpeas - are soaring as vendors bemoan a lack of supplies from the flooded breadbasket provinces of Sindh and Punjab. The met office said the country as a whole had received twice the usual monsoon rainfall, but Balochistan and Sindh had more than four times the average of the last three decades.

Padidan, a small town in Sindh, was drenched by more than 1.2m of rain since June, making it the wettest place in the country.

The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) has committed $50,000 in aid in response to the floods. According to a press statement, the contribution will be geared towards the immediate needs of flood-afflicted people, including food, emergency shelter, water and sanitation solutions, and hygiene items. The humanitarian organisation will also launch a public fund-raising appeal to support its operations.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BLOOMBERG