Sindh's Indus breaks its banks, a growing emergency and little aid
The emergency caused by the exceptional rains shows no sign of abating. According to official data, 1.7 million houses have been damaged and over 33 million people have been affected. The AsiaNews fundraising campaign for a village home to a small Christian community.
Sindh (AsiaNews) - Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority has published a new report on the floods, stating that the total number of people affected in Pakistan is more than 6.6 million households and a total of 33 million people. There are almost 1.7 million damaged homes in Pakistan, but only 631,824 people have so far found shelter in relief camps. The current alarm is mainly for Sindh province where the overflowing Indus river is devastating villages and settlements.
Even in Allah Bachao Shoro (God save us) - the village of 150 families about 6 km from the city of Hyderabad to which we are directing the aid collection launched by AsiaNews - the riverbank was swept away on 5 September. The nearest settlements were submerged under one and a half metres of water; among the flooded buildings was the Joy Education Public School, the school promoted by the local Christian community: when the embankment collapsed, people had to take refuge on the roof of this school.
The only means of reaching the inhabitants is by boat: the director of the Irrigation Department has stated that it will take at least 10 days for the water to go down. Among the reasons for concern is also the limited availability of medicines to treat snake bites, scorpions and insects in the water, which are even more prevalent in this precarious situation.
"The land is no longer arable, all the fields are under water and completely destroyed," says local activist Safdar Bhatti. "The people receive only one meal a day, thanks to the local people who bring them cooked food. Only the support of God's people living in other countries can save us. Please support these unfortunate victims of nature'.
The fate of Allah Bachao Shoro is the same as that of many other villages. Another locality called Padri Di Goth (Shepherd's Residence), where 500 Christian families live, was completely damaged by the breaking of dams and canals in the area. More than 1,300 acres of land cultivated by local Christians are completely ruined and the people find themselves in abject misery without medicine, tents and food, and with aid slow to arrive. These people are raising their hands to God to send support from above so that they can survive.
Naveed Walter, president of Human Rights Watch Pakistan, confirms that the number of people in distress is growing day by day due to the gap between relief efforts and the extent of needs. Because of insufficient aid, people continue to die. And the questions about the future are dramatic as the water has devastated valuable fruit trees and crops, killing livestock and destroying major assets in the provinces of Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtun Khwa, and months will be needed for recovery and rehabilitation through joint efforts. In the meantime, food, drinking water, tents, supplies of hygiene kits and mosquito nets, medicines are needed immediately.
Anyone wishing to do so can give a little help to this terrible tragedy by supporting the fundraising campaign promoted by AsiaNews for these communities.
You can support the campaign for the flood victims in Pakistan through teh following channels, ALWAYS INDICATING THE FOLLOWING SUBJECT:
AN05 EMERGENCY PAKISTAN:
Online payment at this link with Credit Card (Visa,Cartasì, Mastercard, American Express) or Paypal
Bank transfer: made out to Fondazione Pime Onlus, Crédit Agricole
IBAN IT89M0623001633000015111283
Please always send an email confirming that the transfer has been made to uam@pimemilano.com, specifying your name, surname, address, tax code, place and date of birth (useful data for the tax deduction receipt).
Postal account: n. 39208202 made out to Fondazione Pime Onlus.
Bank cheque or bank draft: made out to Fondazione Pime Onlus, to be sent to Fondazione Pime Onlus, via Monte Rosa, 81 - 20149 Milano.
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29/08/2022 11:37
11/10/2022 19:00
