ISLAMABAD: Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman on Friday said instant rescue and humanitarian relief had become an urgent task, as those who had survived, could not find dry land to pitch their tents.

She said this during her meeting with Japanese Ambassador Mitsuhiro Wada.

The minister apprised the ambassador of the devastation caused by the floods across the country, current relief efforts and the assistance required for rehabilitation and reconstruction.

“We are still receiving new data. Some 1,508 people have lost their lives and more than 12,000 are injured. Over 300 bridges have been torn apart and nearly 13,000km of roads severely damaged, cutting off access to the areas drowned in flood waters,” Ms Rehman said.

“We had cascading climate events occurring one after the other since the start of the year, with temperatures reaching 53 degrees in Sindh followed by heatwaves and three times the normal amount of GLOFs,” she added.

Spread of diseases like cholera, dengue and others, she said, would exacerbate the health crisis among the affected population as 33 million people had been impacted severely.

Ambassador Mitsuhiro Wada extend condolences on behalf of the government and the people of Japan on the loss of precious lives and the severe devastation caused by the floods.

The ambassador briefed the minister on the humanitarian assistance and conveyed the extension of emergency grant aid of $7 million to Pakistan by the Japanese government.

The minister expressed gratitude to the ambassador and said, “we are extremely thankful to the people of Japan for extending their support and looking to support Pakistan in rebuilding as resilience will require more funds. Our aim is to build back better with climate resilient infrastructure and address the looming food, livelihood and water insecurities that will arise once the waters recede.”

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2022