Pakistan’s special secretary for irrigation, Jamal Mangan, said authorities began deliberately destroying Lake Manchar in Pakistan’s southeastern province of Sindh after water levels reached dangerously high levels on Sunday.
Water released from the lake will flow into the nearby districts of Jafarabad and Bubak, Mangan said, with the aim of saving populous cities and towns in Sindh province, including Sehwan, Dadu and Ban Siedabad, from the worst floods. was.
The death toll since mid-June rose to 1,305 as of Sunday, with nearly a third of the victims being children, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA).
UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) warned in a statement on Wednesday that three million children are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance across Pakistan.
“It won’t end in two months.”
Dr Deedar Hussain of the Pakistan Health Department said he feared water-borne diseases could occur if floodwaters do not recede fast enough.
“We have a lot of patients coming in. According to the registry, we have 16,000 patients[from the whole district]. We also have malaria patients who are being tested for malaria parasites,” Hussain told Reuters on Saturday.
Médecins du Monde spokeswoman Aurélie Godet told CNN on Thursday that the flooding had washed everything away.
“Survivors have to start from scratch. They urgently need shelter with dignity, affordable food, access to health, access to basic supplies. are not finished in two months. They need long-term help.
Children come to the clinic with serious foot injuries from not wearing shoes, Godet said. And she said even outside of flood zones, some people can’t afford regular medicine because food is too expensive due to rising prices.
“In arid regions, survivors say food prices are different because roads are inaccessible. Four times the market price. They cannot afford to eat,” she said.
Source: www.cnn.com
