Floods in Pakistan 2010

By:

Abbas Mehdi

Abdullah Ahmed Jan

Fayyaz
 The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 after
heavy monsoon rains have affected Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab as well as parts of Baluchistan.
An estimated 2,000 people have died so far with close to a
million homes badly damaged or destroyed. The United
Nations estimates over 20 million people are suffering with over
160,000 square kilometers affected as a result of the flooding,
exceeding the combined total of the affected of 2004 Indian
Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010
Haiti earthquake. However, the death toll in each of those three
disasters was much higher than the number of people killed so
far in the floods. Around a fifth of Pakistan's total land area was
impacted by the flooding.
UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon has asked for an
initial $460 million for emergency relief, noting that the flood
was the worst disaster he had ever seen. 50% of the relief
funds requested have been received as of 15 August
2010. The U.N. is concerned that aid is not arriving fast
enough, while the World Health Organization reported that ten
million people were forced to drink unsafe water. The Pakistani
economy has been harmed by extensive damage to
infrastructure and crops. Structural damages are estimated to
exceed 4 billion USD, and wheat crop damages are estimated
to be over 500 million USD.
Contents

Flooding
Potential long term effects
Food
Infrastructure
Taliban and Insurgency
Relief efforts
Response by National
Governments
Response by Non-Governmental
Organization
Flooding

Satellite images of the upper Indus River valley comparing water-levels on August 1, 2009 (top) and July 31, 2010
(bottom)
 The floods were caused by monsoon rains, which were forecasted to continue into early
August and were described as the worst in this area in the last 80 years. The Pakistan Meteorological
Department said that 300 mm (12 inches) of rain fell over a 36-hour period and more was expected.
So far as many as 500,000 or more people have been displaced from their homes. Manuel Bessler,
head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stated that 36 districts were
involved, and 550,000 people were affected, although later reports increased the number to as high
as a million affected. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial information-minister Mian Iftikhar
Hussain said "the infrastructure of this province was already destroyed by terrorism. Whatever was
left was finished off by these floods." He also called the floods "the worst calamity in our history." Four
million Pakistanis were left with food shortages.

Officials have warned that the death-toll could rise as many towns and villages are not
accessible and communications have been disrupted. In some areas, the water-level was 5.5 m (18
ft) high and residents were seen on roof-tops waiting for aid to arrive. At least 1,588 people have
been injured, 722,600 houses and 4,600 villages have been damaged or destroyed. The Karakoram
Highway, which connects Pakistan with China, was closed after a bridge was destroyed. The ongoing
devastating floods in Pakistan will have a severe impact on an already vulnerable population, says
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In addition to all the other damages the floods
have caused, floodwaters have destroyed much of the healthcare-infrastructure in the worst-affected
areas, leaving inhabitants especially vulnerable to water-borne disease. In Sindh, the Indus River
burst its banks near Sukkur on August 8, submerging the village of Mor Khan Jatoi. There is also an
absence of law and order, mainly in Sindh. Looters have been taking advantage of the floods by
ransacking abandoned homes using boats.
 In early August, the heaviest flooding moved southward along the Indus River from severely-
affected northern regions toward western Punjab, where at least 1,400,000 acres (570,000 ha) of
cropland was destroyed, and the southern province of Sindh. The crops affected
were cotton, sugarcane, rice, pulses, tobacco and animal fodder. Floodwaters and rain destroyed
700,000 acres (3,000 km2) of cotton, 200,000 acres (800 km2) acres each of rice and cane, 500,000
tonnes of wheat and 300,000 acres (1,000 km2) of animal fodder. According to the Pakistan Cotton
Ginners Association, the floods destroyed 2 million bales of cotton, which led to an increase
in futures of the commodity in international market.

The power infrastructure of Pakistan also took a severe blow from the floods, which damaged 10,000
transmission lines, transformers, feeders and power houses in different flood hit areas. Flood water
inundated Jinnah Hydro power and 150 power houses in Gilgit. The damage caused a power shortfall
of 3,135 MW.

It has also been reported by International Red Cross that a large number of unexploded
ordinance such as mines and artillery shells have been flushed down stream by the floods from areas
in Kashmir and Waziristan and scattered in low lying areas, posing a future risk to returning
inhabitants.

Aid agencies have warned that outbreaks of diseases, such as: gastroenteritis, diarrhea,
and skin diseases due to lack of clean drinking water and sanitation can pose a serious new risk to
victims of flood. On August 14, the first case of cholera emerged in the town of Mingora, fear ran
through millions of stranded victims of flood, who are already suffering from gastroenteritis and
diarrhea.

On the direction of President Asif Ali Zardari, there were no official celebrations of
63rd Independence Day on 14 August as the country faces calamity.

Pakistani authorities have predicted that fresh rainfall is expected to trigger further two waves
of flooding, inundating more land and swallowing yet more villages. One of this new flood surge is
currently sweeping down from mountainous areas in the north and expected to hit highly populated
areas in the coming days, while the second wave is being formed in the mountains.

An article in the New Scientist attributed the cause of the exceptional rainfall to "freezing" of
the jet stream, a phenomenon that simultaneously also caused an unprecedented heat wave and
wildfires in Russia as well as the 2007 United Kingdom floods in the past.

Some Pakistani commentators also said that the construction of dams on

the Sutlej and Beas rivers by India had exacerbated the situation, claiming that India deliberately
released water from the dams to increase flooding.
Potential long term effects
Food
Floods have submerged 17 million acres of Pakistan's most fertile crop land, have killed
200,000 livestock and have washed away massive amounts of grain. A major concern is that farmers
will be unable to meet the fall deadline for planting new seeds in 2010, meaning a massive loss of
food production in 2011, and potentially leading to long term food shortages. The agricultural
damages are more than 2.9 billion dollars, according to recent estimates, and include over 700,000
acres of lost cotton crops, 200,000 acres of sugar cane and 200,000 acres of rice, in addition to the
loss of over 500,000 tonnes of stocked wheat, 300,000 acres of animal fodder and the stored grain
losses.

Infrastructure
Floods have damaged an estimated 2,433 miles of highway and 3,508 miles of railroad. Cost
estimations for highway damages are at approximately 158 million USD and railroad damages are at
131 million USD. Any unique or particularly large infrastructure damages will increase these
estimates. Public building damages are estimated at 1 billion USD.

Taliban insurgency
The flood will divert Pakistani military forces from fighting the Pakistani Taliban insurgents
(TTP) in the Northwest to help in the relief effort. It is feared that this will allow Taliban fighters to
regroup. On the other hand, it has been suggested that by helping flood victims the US has an
opportunity to improve its image.

The Pakistani Taliban have also engaged in relief efforts and make inroads where the
government is absent or seen as corrupt. As the flood may have dislodged many property markers, it
is feared that governmental delay and corruption will give an advantage to the Taliban to settle these
disputes swiftly. A Taliban spokesperson asked the Pakistani government to reject Western help from
"Christians and Jews" indicating that, instead, the Taliban can raise $20 million.
Relief efforts

A bridge damaged by the flooding

Pakistan has appealed to international donors for help in responding to the

disaster. Twenty-one helicopters and 150 boats were pressed into service to assist the
affected people according to the National Disaster Management Authority of Pakistan. The
US embassy in Pakistan provided seven helicopters to the authorities to assist in relief-
operations. The United Nations also launched relief efforts. It appealed for $460 million to
provide immediate help, including food, shelter and clean water. UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon visited Pakistan on 15 August to oversee and discuss the relief efforts. A Pakistani
army spokesman said that troops had been deployed in all affected areas and had rescued
thousands of people. Prime MinisterYousaf Raza Gillani visited the province and directed
the Pakistan Navy to help evacuate the flood-victims. By early August, more than 352,291
people have been rescued.