Pakistan Floods: India Increases aid to $25million

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ath-toll-crosses-1300/articleshow/6244548.cms

Pakistan floods: Death toll crosses 1,300
PTI, Aug 1, 2010, 06.46pm IST

PESHAWAR: Over 1,300 people have died and tens of thousands others rendered homeless from the massive flood in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said today.

The number of deaths caused by surging flash floods and lashing downpours in the country crossed 1,300.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is the worst hit province in the recent flooding, as over 567 houses were absolutely razed down to ground by flash floods, 90 highways were damaged, 58 big thoroughfares were closed for traffic; while, 104 people are still unaccounted for, Geo TV reported.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has waived off all provincial taxes, Punjab lifted agricultural tax and Balochistan announced to write off all agri-loans.

At least 800 people hitherto lost their lives in rains and flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it said.

At least eight hotels and over 300 houses were swept away in floodwater. Also, massive havoc was wrought in Swat and Shangla, where link bridges and thousands of houses were washed away, Geo TV said.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said 12 teams have been constituted for rescue efforts.

The same spell of devastations triggered by driving rains and subsequent flooding, is in full swing in Punjab, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where 494 people were killed, raising the overall death toll in the country.

The United Nations said the rains and floods affected over one million people.

According to the statement of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), besides Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 37 were killed in Punjab, 19 in Balochistan, 32 in PoK and at least six people had to lose their lives in Gilgit-Baltistan in floods.

 

[Pintu]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...9m-in-aid-to-Pakistan/articleshow/6242858.cms

EU gives $39m in aid to Pakistan
IANS, Aug 1, 2010, 06.55am IST

BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) has given 30 million euros (about $39 million) in aid to Pakistan so it could help the most needy, including those hit by the current floods in the country, a media report said.

The European Commission announced this on Saturday.

Geo TV said at least 800 people have been killed in floods in northwest Pakistan, while thousands of others have been affected.

"I am pleased that our decision to provide new humanitarian funding for the most vulnerable people in Pakistan will also be able to benefit the people, who have suffered from this disaster," said Kristalina Georgieva, EU humanitarian aid commissioner.

The UN has said about one million people have been affected by the floods.

 

[Iamanidiot]

May the departed souls RIP

 

[Pintu]

AP video link from YouTube


Regards

 

[Vinod2070]

RIP. Hope the situation improves soon.

 

[ejazr]

That doesn't work. The US has given billions of dollars in khairat to Pakistan so far, and what have they got? Pakistanis still see the US as their biggest enemy. India has her own poor on which she can spend money. No need to give away our hard earned money to our enemies.

We dont have to provide money and loans. I am talking about goods like tents, food and medicines, blankets that will directly help the affected.

It might not result in a U-turn but it will set an example and the Pakistani people and the world at large will notice it.
Ofcourse, you might have the GoP rejecting the aid outright but that would be a win situation for India as well. So IMO it is a win-win offer.

 

[Rebelkid]

Its sad people have to die because of this...If Pakistan could get some water conservation projects to secure all the fresh water, this could solve the problems...

 

[Known_Unknown]

We dont have to provide money and loans. I am talking about goods like tents, food and medicines, blankets that will directly help the affected.

It might not result in a U-turn but it will set an example and the Pakistani people and the world at large will notice it.
Ofcourse, you might have the GoP rejecting the aid outright but that would be a win situation for India as well. So IMO it is a win-win offer.

You mean like how we provided aid to them during the 2005 earthquake, and they turned around and did Mumbai? Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[bose]

RIP for the dead, Hope the situation improves fast

 

[Yusuf]

RIP to the dead and condolences to their families.
So its india who has done this eh?? Pakistan never fails to amaze me for its stupidity. However it is more than evident what india can do if it really wanted to play with water.

India does not have to send anything to pakistan as the establishment there does not understand what humanity is. So any humanitarian mission is not going to generate any goodwill there. Anyways they have JuD who usually generate goodwill by helping in disaster relief to give their organization a charade for their terror activities.

 

[Rage]

Here, I think, is a report that better captures the situation:

 

[ajtr]

Militants see opportunity in disaster​

By Syed Saleem Shahzad

ISLAMABAD - The worst floods in Pakistan's history have claimed more than 1,100 lives and rescue officials are trying to save about 27,000 stranded people in danger. Officials said on Sunday that more than 1.5 million people, mostly in northwestern Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa and Punjab provinces, had been affected.

More than 30,000 troops have been deployed in rescue efforts and militants have seized on the natural disaster to re-emerge in areas from which they had been driven out by military operations.

Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (Pakistani Taliban) in the Swat Valley, announced in a video message that the Taliban were returning to the area. Earlier, there



had been reports that Fazlullah had been killed by the Afghan army in Nuristan province.

Pakistani counter-terrorism officials said that as a result of the floods and landslides, operations against militants in tribal areas such as Khyber Agency and Orakzai Agency had been halted. Similarly, a crackdown in the southern Punjab is on hold.

"The infrastructure of Swat and Malakand [Agency] could be affected for as long as a year. All main bridges have collapsed and the mobilization of the army is limited. The militants will of course take full advantage of this situation," a counter-terrorism official told Asia Times Online. He added that militants are believed to have already moved a large amount of arms to Punjab for "major action" there.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supplies passing through northwest Pakistan on the way to Afghanistan have also been severely disrupted. According to some reports, NATO has had to shelve small-scale operations in Helmand, Kandahar, Kapisa and Nagarhar for the most crucial month of August. Last month, 63 American soldiers were killed, making it the worst month since the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001.

In Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province), has been worst hit by the monsoon rains, where whole villages have been wiped out. With local rescuers struggling to cope, Pakistan sought help from American forces stationed across the border in Afghanistan. They responded with helicopters, boats, temporary bridges, water units and other supplies as part of an initial US$10 million aid pledge. According to the Edhi Foundation, a private relief organization, the death toll may reach 3,000 in the coming days.

The problem for Pakistan now is how to deal with more than a million displaced and homeless people, while also confronting emboldened militants.

Commenting on the flow of NATO supplies, an official from the National Highway Authority told Asia Times Online, "The interruption may last for at least a few weeks. Bridges and roads leading to Peshawar [capital of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa] have been washed away due to the floods and therefore all heavy traffic, including NATO containers, has been stopped."

NATO, as a standard operating procedure in a conflict zone, has at least 15 days worth of food, arms and fuel in stock for special operations. Frequent disruptions to supplies passing through Pakistan - the vast majority of NATO supplies - have disrupted operations in Afghanistan, most notably the offensive on Taliban strongholds in Kandahar, which has been postponed for several months.

The Taliban, who travel much lighter than NATO and who don't rely on regular routes to move fighters and supplies from the tribal areas into Afghanistan, can be expected to make the most of any serious disruption of NATO goods to jack up their activities for what they have dubbed Operation Victory.

Similarly in Pakistan, al-Qaeda has already laid down the infrastructure of its insurgency from the southern port city of Karachi all the way to the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan. As soon as the flood waters drain away, exposing much of Pakistan's destroyed infrastructure, al-Qaeda-led militants can be expected to swing into action.

Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at [email protected]

 

[satyam]

China offers 1.48 million $ aid to Pakistan for floods.

Taller than mountain friend offers $1.48 million for a disaster of this magnitude? Now this is true friendship.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-n...itarian-aid-worth-10-million-yuan-to-Pakistan

 

[LETHALFORCE]

This is a cheap friend,Gilani probably spends more than this on his suits.

 

[ajtr]

merge it with floods thread.

 

[thakur_ritesh]

RIP and condolences.

some friends chinese are, but then hey thats how all weather friendship gets defined, money is after all inconsequential in a friendship!

 

[SHASH2K2]

This is a cheap friend,Gilani probably spends more than this on his suits.

Dosti me pase nahi dekhe jaate sirjee.

 

[nitesh]

AoA Pakistan is 80 years old!:happy_2:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/world/asia/04pstan.html?_r=1
New Storm Warnings Hinder Pakistan Rescue Effort

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan's government on Tuesday wrestled with a natural disaster that seemed to grow by the hour as new storm warnings threatened to deepen the worst floods in 80 years.

 

[Neil]

Pakistanis' Anger Grows as Flood Damage Mounts

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The damage from Pakistan's worst floods in generations mounted on Monday as rescue operations continued and public fury rose in the country's most volatile province.

The official death toll remains under 800, but on Monday the minister of information in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, formerly the North-West Frontier Province, estimated the true number to be 1,500. Another provincial official said 1.4 million people had lost their homes. As much as 70 percent of the region's livestock is gone.

The displaced are clustered in hundreds of schools, largely fending for themselves for food and drinking water. Pakistani television channels showed survivors voicing venomous anger toward a government that has provided little immediate aid.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari landed in France for talks with the French government.

"People think that the government is not providing anything to them," said Adnan Khan, an official at the government's disaster-relief management office. "But the scale is so high and huge that we cannot cater to all of the people."

The growing frustration with the government adds to its troubles in dealing with the province, which abuts Afghanistan in Pakistan's north and is a pivotal battleground against the Islamic militants operating in both countries.

For the past year, the government and the military have been engaged in a campaign to restore public services, trying to rebuild trust after more than two million people were displaced last year when government forces launched a major offensive against militants. But the reconstruction efforts have been painfully slow, and the public mood has shifted from frustrated to furious.

Analysts said the government's flood relief effort would not only serve as another test of public trust, but would also most likely be exploited as a wedge by foreign governments and militant organizations.

Last summer, hard-line Islamist charities ended up providing significant aid to the displaced, while Pakistani authorities were unable to deliver enough help but refused to allow American agencies to deliver more. The authorities did not want to be associated with the United States, widely blamed here for many of the country's ills.

That has not changed. For the moment, the United States, which has pledged $10 million in aid for flood victims and has donated thousands of meals, is handing over the supplies for Pakistan to deliver. The United States is also sending 2 water filtration systems, 7 helicopters and 12 prefabricated bridges.

One of the priorities is rebuilding a crucial bridge in Dir district, which remains largely cut off and where thousands are feared trapped or dead. And in Upper Swat, mules were being used to shuttle food rations across high waters to the hungry, an official said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/world/asia/03pstan.html?ref=todayspaper

 

[nimo_cn]

RIP to the dead and condolences to their families.
So its india who has done this eh?? Pakistan never fails to amaze me for its stupidity. However it is more than evident what india can do if it really wanted to play with water.

India does not have to send anything to pakistan as the establishment there does not understand what humanity is. So any humanitarian mission is not going to generate any goodwill there. Anyways they have JuD who usually generate goodwill by helping in disaster relief to give their organization a charade for their terror activities.

Sigh!

It is sad that people are dying there, but you are arguing if it is necessary for India to provide some help because you are concerned that it may not generate some good will.

Would you please elaborate what kind of goodwill you expect of Pakistani people, especially of those who may receive help from India?
Heeding and bowing to India or expressing their gratitude to India every chance they get, so that all the world will know that India is such a humanitarian and generous country, is that what you want?

In that case, if i was a Pakistani i would rather die than accept any conditional help from India, because that would be insuling myself. Not to mention, India in fact is very mean when it comes to charity.

Peopel like you preach humanity day by day, but in the end it turns out you are the one who urgently needs to be educated about humanity.

So please stop pretending to be a person full of love or something like that, people who really care about others will not consider what he/she can get back after he/she gives help.