Flood in pakistan 2010

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Flood in pakistan 2010
Floods in PAKISTAN “2010”
The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 following heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan and affected the Indus River basin. At one point, approximately one-fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater.[3][4][5] According to Pakistani government data the floods directly affected about 20 million people, mostly by destruction of property, livelihood and infrastructure, with a death toll of close to 2,000.[2] The number of individuals affected by the flooding exceeds the combined total of individuals affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[6]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had initially asked for $460 million for emergency relief, noting that the flood was the worst disaster he had ever seen. Only 20% of the relief funds requested had been received as of 15 August 2010.[7] The U.N. had been concerned that aid was not arriving fast enough, and the World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe water.[8] The Pakistani economy has been harmed by extensive damage to infrastructure and crops.[9] Structural damages have been estimated to exceed 4 billion USD, and wheat crop damages have been estimated to be over 500 million USD.[10] Officials have estimated the total economic impact to be as much as 43 billion USD.[11][12]
Causes:
Current flooding is blamed on unprecedented monsoon rain.[13] The rainfall anomaly map published by NASA shows unusually intense monsoon rains attributed to La Niña.[14] On 21 June, the Pakistan Meteorological Department cautioned that urban and flash flooding could occur from July to September in the north parts of the country.[15] The same department recorded above-average rainfall in the months of July and August 2010[16] and monitored the flood wave progression.[17] Some of the discharge levels recorded are comparable to those seen during the floods of 1988, 1995, and 1997.[18]
In response to previous floods of the Indus River in 1973 and 1976, Pakistan created the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) in 1977. The FFC operates under Pakistan's Ministry of Water and Power. It is charged with executing flood control projects and protecting lives and property of Pakistanis from the impact of floods. Since its inception the FFC has received Rs 87.8 billion (about 900 million USD). FFC documents show that numerous projects were initiated, funded and completed, but reports indicate that little work has actually been done due to ineffective leadership and corruption.
Floods:
Monsoon rains were forecasted to continue into early August and were described as the worst in this area in the last 80 years.[22] The Pakistan Meteorological Department reported that over 200 mm (7.88 inches) of rain fell over a 24-hour period in a number of places in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.[23] A record-breaking 274 mm (10.7 inches) of rain fell in Peshawar during 24 hours;[24] the previous record was 187 mm (7.36 inches) of rain in April 2009.[25] As of 30 July, 500,000 or more people had been displaced from their homes.[22] On 30 July, Manuel Bessler, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stated that 36 districts were involved, and 950,000 people were affected,[26] although within a day, reports increased that number to as high as a million,[27] and by mid-August they increased the number to nearly 20 million affected.[28] By mid-August, according to the governmental Federal Flood Commission (FFC), the floods had caused the deaths of at least 1,540 people, while 2,088 people had received injuries, 557,226 houses had been destroyed, and over 6 million people had been displaced.[21] One month later, the data had been updated to reveal 1,781 deaths, 2,966 people with injuries, and more than 1.89 million homes destroyed.[2]
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial minister of information, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said "the infrastructure of this province was already destroyed by terrorism. Whatever was left was finished off by these floods."[29] He also called the floods "the worst calamity in our history."[30] Four million Pakistanis were left with food shortages.[31]
The Karakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan with China, was closed after a bridge was destroyed.[32] The ongoing devastating floods in Pakistan will have a severe impact on an already vulnerable population, says the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In addition to all the other damages the floods have caused, floodwater has destroyed much of the health care infrastructure in the worst-affected areas, leaving inhabitants especially vulnerable to water-borne disease.[33] In Sindh, the Indus River burst its banks near Sukkur on 8 August, submerging the village of Mor Khan Jatoi.[31] There is also an absence of law and order, mainly in Sindh. Looters have been taking advantage of the floods by ransacking abandoned homes using boats.[34]


Affected areas as of August 26, 2010
In early August, the heaviest flooding moved southward along the Indus River from severely affected northern regions toward western Punjab, where at least 1,400,000 acres (570,000 ha) of cropland were destroyed,[31] and toward the southern province of Sindh.[35] The affected crops included cotton, sugarcane, rice, pulses, tobacco and animal fodder. Floodwaters and rain destroyed 700,000 acres (3,000 km2) of cotton, 200,000 acres (800 km2) acres each of rice and cane, 500,000 tonnes of wheat and 300,000 acres (1,000 km2) of animal fodder.[36][37] According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, the floods destroyed 2 million bales of cotton, which led to an increase in futures of the commodity in international market.[38][39] 170,000 citizens (or 70% of the population) of the historic Sindh town of Thatta fled advancing flood waters on 27 August 2010.[40]
By mid-September the floods generally had began to recede, although in some areas, such as Sindh, new floods were reported; the majority of the displaced persons had not been able to return home.[2]
Aftermath:
The power infrastructure of Pakistan also took a severe blow from the floods, which damaged 10,000 transmission lines and transformers, feeders and power houses in different flood-hit areas. Flood water inundated Jinnah Hydro power and 150 power houses in Gilgit. The damage caused a power shortfall of 3.135 gigawatt.[41]
Aid agencies have warned that outbreaks of diseases (e.g. gastroenteritis, diarrhea, and skin diseases) due to lack of clean drinking water and sanitation can pose a serious new risk to flood victims.[42][43] On 14 August, the first documented case of cholera emerged in the town of Mingora, striking fear into millions of stranded flood victims, who were already suffering from gastroenteritis and diarrhea.[44][45][46] Pakistan has also faced a malaria outbreak.[47]
It has been reported by the International Red Cross that a large number of unexploded ordinance, such as mines and artillery shells, have been flushed down stream by the floods from areas in Kashmir and Waziristan and scattered in low lying areas, posing a future risk to returning inhabitants.[48] The United Nations estimated that 800,000 people have been cut off by floods in Pakistan and are only reachable by air. It also stated that at least 40 more helicopters are needed to ferry lifesaving aid to increasingly desperate people. Many of those cut off are in the mountainous northwest, where roads and bridges have been swept away.[49]
By order of President Asif Ali Zardari, there were no official celebrations of Pakistan's 63rd Independence Day on 14 August, due to the calamity the country faces.[50]
Relief Efforts
By the end of July 2010, Pakistan had appealed to international donors for help in responding to the disaster,[83] having provided twenty-one helicopters and 150 boats to assist affected people, according to its National Disaster Management Authority.[84] At that time the US embassy in Pakistan had provided seven helicopters.[85] The United Nations launched its relief efforts[26] and appealed for $460 million to provide immediate help, including food, shelter and clean water. On August 14, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Pakistan to oversee and discuss the relief efforts.[42][43] A Pakistani army spokesman said that troops had been deployed in all affected areas and had rescued thousands of people.[29] Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani visited the province and directed the Pakistan Navy to help evacuate the flood victims.[86] By early August, more than 352,291 people have been rescued.[87]
By the end of August, the Relief Web Financial Tracking service indicated that worldwide donations for humanitarian assistance had come to $687 million, with a further $324 million promised in uncommitted pledges.[88] At that time, the Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) stated that Muslim countries, organizations and individuals had pledged close to $1 billion to assist in Pakistan’s flood emergency,[89] a statement placed in doubt by findings from the UN Financial Tracking Service, which indicated that only three of the OIC's 56 member states - Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Kuwait - had pledged more than single digit millions.[89] Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani stated that by the end of August, Saudi Arabia's support exceeded that of the US, yet both UN data and data from Pakistan's Disaster Management Authority failed to support this claim.[89]
With need for substantial support to repair infrastructure, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested that the Pakistani government enlarge its tax base by asking the wealthy citizens of Pakistan to contribute more for their country; by that time both the US and the EU each had contributed about $450 million for the relief effort.[90]
According to UNOCHA, by November 2010, a total of close to $1,792 million had been committed in humanitarian support, the largest amount by the US (30.7%), followed by private individuals and organizations (17.5%) and Saudi Arabia (13.5%).[91]

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