More rains as monsoon deaths top 1,300 in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Upper Dir district and other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province experienced heavy rains in the early hours of Monday, as the number of monsoon deaths in the country reached 1,314 since the beginning of the season in June.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Saturday predicted more rains in the upper parts of the country for the next few days, creating fears of more floods in the region.
While much of the devastation caused by the erratic weather has been witnessed in Sindh and Balochistan, Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has also suffered significant infrastructure damage in recent weeks.
A large number of people living in Pakistan have already lost their homes, livestock and crops in the last two and a half months, making the government urge the international community for humanitarian assistance due to its lack of resources to deal with the magnitude of the situation.
According to the local media, people uprooted by floods in the south have also complained of infectious diseases while living their lives in tough circumstances.
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported that 660,120 people had reported various illnesses at government-run medical camps in flood-affected areas since July.
“The stats show that skin ailments and diarrheal diseases are rampant in flood-affected areas — a total of 149,551 reported with diarrheal diseases while 142,739 people reported with skin infections,” the publication said. “The officials recorded 132,485 cases of acute respiratory disease, 49,420 cases of suspected malaria, 101 cases of snake-bite and 550 cases of dog-bite.”
Senior Pakistani officials have already warned the rehabilitation activities can take several years and may cost the country over $10 billion.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit flood-hit areas in Sindh’s Qambar Shahdad Kot today where he will oversee relief work and meet displaced families.
He will also assess the damage caused by flash floods by taking aerial view of the inundated areas.