ISLAMABAD, Aug 13: The US agency for international development (USAID) and its office of foreign disaster assistance (OFDA) have provided an emergency relief grant of $1.6 million to the communities affected by the cyclone that hit Balochistan and Sindh in late June.

This assistance package is in addition to the $390,000 provided earlier for over 11,000 households in the Balochistan districts of Bolan, Lasbela, Jhal Magsi, Jaffarabad and Naseerabad.

The grant has been provided to two NGOs —Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and the American Refugee Committee (ARC)— to provide emergency shelter, water, sanitation, and hygiene in the flood-affected areas of Balochistan.

Through its emergency recovery programme, CRS is helping 2,500 households in the Kech district by giving them basic relief supplies including cooking utensils, plastic sheeting, hygiene kits and water filtration systems, and providing them cash for work.—Our Reporter