SOUTH TANGERANG — (12/09/2022) Dompet Dhuafa through the Disaster Management Center (DMC) unit is preparing disaster response assistance for the floods in Pakistan.
Currently, DMC Dompet Dhuafa will distribute basic food supplies, logistics, kitchen equipment, and emergency evacuation tents.
“Dompet Dhuafa will send aid through two channels. First, through the local partner We Care Foundation and through the Forum Zakat and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). The aid consists of food, logistics, kitchen equipment, and emergency evacuation tents,” explained Haryo Mojopahit, Chief Executive of DMC Dompet Dhuafa, when met at the DMC Dompet Dhuafa headquarters in East Ciputat, South Tangerang.
Based on a report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) entitled Pakistan: 2022 Monsoon Floods as of September 9, 2022. A total of 556 thousand houses were destroyed, 1.17 million houses were damaged.
“Approximately 1,400 people died, 12,700 were injured, including 496 children who died and 4,000 children who were injured. Around 664,000 people are reported to be living in evacuation tents – more than 190,000 have been in evacuation tents since a week ago,” wrote the OCHA Report.
Some survivors are reported to be staying with relatives or other Pakistani residents. Nearly 800,000 refugees live in disaster-prone districts, including some 210, 000 in the Peshawar district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; 170,000 in Quetta, Balochistan; 77,700 in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; and 71,500 in Karachi, Sindh.
In addition, 6,700 kilometers of roads were damaged by heavy flooding. This made it difficult for survivors to evacuate and access emergency response services. This reality was exacerbated by the fact that 246 bridges were destroyed.
The highest percentage of damaged roads is in Sindh, at 40 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 24 percent, and Balochistan at 22 percent.
The rapid assessment results show that more than 22,000 schools have been damaged in Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and more than 5,500 other schools have been converted into refugee camps. Floods have also disrupted learning and teaching activities for more than 3.5 million children.
It is estimated that more than 1,460 health facilities have been affected by heavy rain and flooding. Access to health facilities, health workers, and medicines is still limited.
Based on temporary observations, survivors have shown symptoms of diarrhea, malaria, acute respiratory infections, skin and eye infections, and typhoid.
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It was also reported that there was an increase in cases of dengue fever in refugee villages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Meanwhile, acute watery diarrhea (AWD) outbreaks have occurred in 45 districts in Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federal Capital Territory of Islamabad.
It is reported that more than 1.2 million hectares of agricultural land in Sindh has been damaged, while in Balochistan 61 percent of livestock has reported the appearance of animal disease symptoms.
Almost 50 percent of the community depends on livestock income, 46 percent report damage to livestock shelters, and 29 percent report loss of animal feed stocks.
It is also reported that around 500,000 livestock have been washed away due to rain and flooding in Balochistan. This figure represents 66 percent of the 755,000 livestock deaths reported nationally.
The province of Sindh has been most affected by the heavy rains and floods that have hit the country this rainy season – especially important considering that Sindh and Balochistan are historically drought-prone areas.
“We ask for your prayers and cooperation so that the aid process for flood survivors in Pakistan can be carried out as quickly and as accurately as possible,” concluded Haryo. (Dompet Dhuafa / DMC / Fajar)