Tens of millions of Pakistanis were battling the worst monsoon rains in three decades on Monday. The storms claimed at least 1,061 lives, swept away countless homes and destroyed vital farmland.
A third of Pakistan is currently “under water”, Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman told AFP, referring to a “crisis of unimaginable proportions”. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the monsoon rains, which began in June, are “unprecedented for 30 years”.
A huge relief operation was underway in the country, where international aid was slowly starting to arrive, as the Indus, the country’s main river, threatened to burst its banks.
Victim of climate change
Pakistani officials attribute the devastating weather to climate change. According to them, the country suffers the consequences of irresponsible environmental practices elsewhere in the world.
More than 33 million people, or one in seven Pakistanis, have been affected by the floods and nearly a million homes have been destroyed or severely damaged, according to the government.
At least 1,061 people have been killed since the start of the monsoon in June, with 28 dead in the past 24 hours, according to the latest report from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Monday.
“It’s All One Big Ocean”
But the authorities were still trying to reach isolated villages located in mountainous areas in the north of the country, which could further increase the toll. “It’s all just one big ocean, there’s no dry place to pump the water from,” Ms. Rehman said, adding that the economic cost, which has yet to be quantified, would be devastating.
The monsoon, which usually lasts from June to September, is essential for the irrigation of plantations and for replenishing the water resources of the Indian subcontinent. But it also brings its share of drama and destruction each year.
According to Ms. Rehman, the bad weather is even worse than that of 2010, the year in which 2,000 people were killed and almost a fifth of the country was submerged by the rains. People displaced by the floods have taken refuge in hastily established makeshift camps across the country.
Lost crops
The country received twice as much rainfall as usual, according to the weather service. In the southern provinces (Balochistan and Sind), the most affected, the rains were more than four times higher than the average of the last 30 years.
Near Sukkur in Sindh, where a massive colonial-era dam on the Indus River is vital to preventing the disaster from getting worse, a farmer lamented seeing his rice fields lost. “It’s all over,” he said.
The head of the dam assured that the bulk of the water flowing from the north of the country should reach the structure around September 5, but said he was confident in its ability to withstand the shock.
The dam diverts the waters of the Indus to thousands of kilometers of canals which constitute one of the largest irrigation networks in the world. But the farms thus served are now completely flooded.
The NDMA said more than 80,000 hectares of farmland had been devastated, and more than 3,400 kilometers of roads and 157 bridges washed away. The water is hampering relief operations under the supervision of the Pakistani army.
Call for help
The government declared a state of emergency and appealed to the international community for help. On Sunday, the first flights bringing humanitarian aid arrived, from Turkey or the United Arab Emirates.
These floods come at the worst time for Pakistan, whose economy was already in crisis. The International Monetary Fund was to meet Monday in Washington to agree to the resumption of a loan program of 6 billion dollars, essential for the country.
But it is already clear that Pakistan will need much more to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by the floods. Staple food prices are soaring and supply problems are already being felt in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp