ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Reforms and Special Initiative on Tuesday said Pakistan is facing a large-scale disaster due to recent floods and torrential rains.

Speaking at a press conference after presiding over a meeting at the National Flood Response and Cooperation Centre (NFRCC), the minister said the floods affected around three million people and killed over 1500.

Mr Iqbal said 1.7m houses have been destroyed and 800,000 cattle perished.

He appealed to the nation and people who have not been affected by the floods to help these people in this critical time.

Speaking on the occasion, NDMA chairman Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz said monsoon rainfall and floods caused huge devastation in Sindh and Balochistan.

The government through the UN appealed for global support and through its embassies abroad and foreign missions in Pakistan briefed the international community on the gravity of the situation.

Gen Nawaz said efforts resulted into flow of relief items and assistance and so far 114 relief flights have been received from 120 countries.

He said relief items received so far included 16,938 tents, 3,000 tarpaulins, 37,000 blankets, 11,000 food packs, 182 tonnes dry food, 30 tonnes medicines, and 58 boats. He said that two trains from Turkiye reached at Dalbandin and six more were on the way carrying tents, blankets and ration bags.

He further mentioned that from Tajikistan a relief convoy of 86 trucks reached Pakistan while medical teams from Turkiye, Palestine, and Qatar are providing medical relief in flood-hit areas.

The NDMA chairman said Denmark has provided a water purification plant that was now working in Sindh whereas France had provided 75 small-level dewatering pumps.

He said the federal government had given proper guidelines to NDMA for disbursement of relief goods that comprised the total population of affected districts, the number of affected people, their needs, data of those already provided assistance, expenditure of logistics, and most importantly transparency in distribution of relief goods.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2022