ISLAMABAD, Aug 22: In view of the threat of increased incidence of water-borne diseases, the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has dispatched three medical teams to Jhal Magsi, Jafarabad and Harnai (Balochistan) with another camp planned for Kamancha (Lasbela district).
Five vehicles equipped with a wireless communication system is monitoring the situation for immediate action between Badin and the base station in Karachi. This has been put in place with the assistance of International Committee of Red Crescent (ICRC), said a press release.
The situation has been troublesome for Pakistan Red Crescent Society and other aid workers with most of the roads still under stagnating water. Assistance teams are undertaking delivery of relief items mostly through air-drops and boats.
The Pakistan Red Crescent has already provided clothing and 4,000 food parcels to flood victims in Sindh and Balochistan. With the recent funds funnelling in, relief efforts are expected to pick up momentum.
The receding floodwater has left 250 people dead and 449 injured in the wake of the devastation in 7,573 villages of Balochistan and Sindh.
Although the worst seems over, but four to five feet deep floodwater has left people stranded in many villages where entry and exit is impossible. This is a dismaying situation for over one million affected people, who have been left homeless and exposed to countless diseases and infection risks.
The PRCS earlier managed to mobilize local resources worth approximately $50,000. Similarly, USAID and the Chinese Red Cross also gave $50,000 each to PRCS.
Future pledges include 10 metric tons of food items from the Turkish Red Crescent and 150 metric tons of rice from ICRC also pouring in.
Of this Rs4 million is being released to Sindh and Rs1.9 million to Balochistan for relief efforts in the affected districts.
These funds will be used by the branches largely in the preparation of relief packs, provision of shelter, medical aid and other amenities.
Medicines worth $7,000 from the Turkish Red Crescent have already been dispatched to Sindh on August 16 to cater for the medical needs of the flood-affected districts.