(Pic Daily Aaj)
The death toll from devastating floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has risen to 1,300, followed by the outbreak of waterborne disease that have added to the misery of the people affected by the flood.
A Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) official told Daily Times on Sunday that unofficial death report had risen to 1,300. He said the number of deaths confirmed so far had reached 730 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said 690 people had been killed in Charsadda, Nowshera, Peshawar, Mardan and Swabi.
He said that 115 people were still missing since the torrential rains and flood hit the province.
Locals said thousands people were stranded in Nowshera and water level was gradually decreasing.
According to unofficial reports, the death toll in the worst hit districts of Swat and Shangla had reached 434 – Swat 244 and Shangla 190.
The Pakistan Army is operating at full stretch continuously in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and had so far rescued over 28,000 people trapped in floodwater and moved them to safer places.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government declared all flood-hit districts “calamity-hit” and waived off all provincial taxes in these areas.
The KP government called on the World Health Organisation to provide 50 kits for Diarrhea treatment and 50 kits for emergency treatment of the people affected by the floods.
About 17 mobile teams have been providing health facilities in Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera.
Meanwhile, efforts were still under way to rescue Chinese nationals stranded in Kohistan. Of over 200 Chinese nationals, 110 have been shifted to safer places.
“The government is facing a lot of difficulties to carry out rescue operations because of the collapse of bridges and roads in several areas,” Shakil Qadir, PDMA director, told reporters in Peshawar.
In Punjab, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Bhakkar, Layyah and Muzaffargarh districts were put on a red alert due to “exceptionally high flood” expected to hit these areas anytime between Sunday night and Tuesday.
The Meteorological Department issued a warning on Sunday, saying a high tide was expected to pass through Taunsa Barrage between Sunday and Tuesday, putting southern Punjab districts at high risk.
In Taunsa Sharif, hundreds of villages had reportedly been submerged by floodwater.
The Met Department also forecast another spell of rainfall in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab during the next 48 hours. The chief meteorologist said rains would also spread across Azad Kashmir and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Source:
Daily Time
The move came as a populist cleric, who is believed to be backed by the military, demanded the resignation of the government in protests attended by thousands of followers in the heart of the capital Islamabad.
The Supreme Court gave authorities 24 hours to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 16 others.
