The chaos left behind

In places far, far away from Pakistan’s urban centres, everyday millions of flood-affected people gather whatever scarce energy they have to carry out their daily chores. Four months after Pakistan witnessed apocalyptic floods that left one-third of the country underwater, standing floodwaters still pose a big challenge for the affected, especially in Sindh and Balochistan. The latest UN report suggests that an estimated eight million people in Pakistan are still potentially exposed to floodwater or living close to flooded areas. It is normal for rainwater to pass through Sindh to flow down the Indus. But the process has been rather slow, and the government has not taken any significant steps – digging and dredging – to let water drain out quickly. On top of it, people in the worst-affected districts – Badin, Benazirabad, Dadu, Jaffarabad, Jamshoro, Kambar, Khairpur, and Mirpurkhas – are also not sure what they will do when the weather turns chilly.

The UN has also expressed that the problems of the flood-affected people will increase even more as soon as temperatures start to drop. According to the UN, more than 20 million people still depend on humanitarian aid – around 2.6 million people have received food assistance so far. Not only is this stagnant water bad for the environment, it is also damaging the health of people who are already under tremendous stress. The health of children and women is at stake as most of them are malnourished and can barely withstand the onslaught of deadly diseases. Floodwaters have destroyed whatever sanitation facilities the local people had, and now open defecation is increasing the risks of disease outbreaks. And since floodwaters will still some time to recede, no construction and rehabilitation work can start.

People are living in makeshift tents, waiting for authorities to help them survive the biggest tragedy of the year. Children are forced to stay out of school. So far, only 125,000 children have been helped to resume their studies. Schools for more than close to two million children still remain inaccessible. The flood-affected people were already living under dire circumstances, and now they have to face a set of severe problems like food insecurity. Medical experts also fear that the condition will leave a large group of under-vaccinated or unvaccinated children ignored. According to the WHO, over half a million children may go unvaccinated if floodwaters are not drained out and health facilities are not restored on a priority basis. A month ago, at a climate conference attended by the world’s richest, Pakistan took centre stage. The country’s delegation successfully got a loss and damage fund approved for rehabilitation efforts. Pakistan has so far received $816 million or 23 per cent of the budget approved under the Floods Response Plan. It is time the federal and provincial governments took strong measures to bring the affected people back to life. They are already struggling to pick up the pieces left behind by the floods; it is on the government to support them rebuild their lives.