ISLAMABAD/QUETTA: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) on Monday dispatched a third convoy of essential food items to 17 flood-hit areas across Pakistan, the Saudi envoy to Pakistan has said, as the death toll from monsoon rains crossed 770 in the South Asian country.
At least 777 people have lost their lives in Pakistan since the beginning of the monsoon season in mid-June, according to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The impoverished Balochistan province has been the worst hit with 255 dead, with the provincial government announcing on Sunday that all government and private schools would remain closed for five days after nine more people were killed by heavy rains in different districts.
A joint survey by the provincial administration and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) last week showed that 574 government schools, in which 79,000 children are enrolled, had been damaged due to ongoing rains and floods in 32 districts.
“The provincial health department has imposed a health emergency in Balochistan since there is imminent threat of diarrhoea, cholera and malaria outbreaks in flood-hit districts,” Saleh Muhammad Nasir, the secretary health in the province, told Arab News.
“We have established a control room in the director general’s office to provide timely health facilities to the residents of flood affected areas,” he added.
Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, was also lashed by heavy rain on Sunday, causing major damage to various neighborhoods of the city and resulting in prolonged power outages.
“Several houses in Quetta were partially damaged on Sunday, but the entire administration was on the ground to deal with the situation and prevent untoward incidents,” the commissioner, Sohail-ur-Rehman Baloch, told Arab News.
Pakistan’s foreign minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, also canceled his tour of four European countries in view of countrywide damages from floods, the Pakistani foreign office said on Sunday.
Saudi KSRelief dispatches third emergency relief convoy of 100 trucks for Pakistani flood victims in Islamabad, Pakistan, on August 22, 2022. (AN photo)
Against this background, KSRelief sent 100 emergency relief trucks carrying 950 tons of food items to 17 flood-ravaged districts in Pakistan, to be distributed by NDMA. The consignment includes 10,000 food packages.
"More than 70,000 people would benefit from this emergency relief,” Saudi ambassador Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki told Arab News at a ceremony in Islamabad before the goods were dispatched.
A group photo of Saudi ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki (5th right) and chairman NDMA Lieutenant General Akhtar Nawaz (4th right) with KSRelief and NDMA officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, on August 22, 2022. (AN photo)
Dr. Khalid Al-Othmani, director KSRelief Pakistan, said this was the third and the largest consignment by the aid agency for the flood victims.
“Each 95 kg food package consisted of all necessary essential food items, including 80kg of flour, cooking oil of 5 liters, 5kg of sugar, and 5kg of daal chana )lentils), which is sufficient for a family for the whole month,” he told Arab News.
The Saudi international aid agency has implemented 2,069 projects globally worth almost $6 billion in 86 countries. Pakistan is one of the top five beneficiaries of the organization, with 149 projects worth $146.9 million executed since 2005.
