Pakistan declares climate, agriculture emergency as floods rage on
The swollen rivers, flash floods, urban inundation and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains, cloudbursts and glacial lake outbursts have killed 928 people since late June, the disaster agency said.
Islamabad (dpa) - Pakistan on Wednesday declared a climate and agriculture emergency as authorities raced to rescue at least 1.6 million people at risk of massive flooding in downstream areas.
“We have decided to impose a climate emergency and agriculture emergency,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told a cabinet meeting, citing the destruction of crops and inundation of thousands of hectares of fertile land.
Rice, cotton and maize crops have been destroyed in 4,400 villages in Punjab province. An assessment of agricultural losses will be announced next week.
SEE ALSO: Historic monsoon season with deadly floods, landslides in India and Pakistan
A committee comprising heads of the federal and provincial governments will formulate a comprehensive plan to try to cope with the situation.
The swollen rivers, flash floods, urban inundation and landslides triggered by heavy monsoon rains, cloudbursts and glacial lake outbursts have killed 928 people since late June, the disaster agency said.
A general view of a flooded street on Bagh Korangi Road in Karachi. (PPI via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa via Reuters Connect)
Nearly 6 million people have been affected by the floods in the northern Himalayan region, north-western mountainous terrain and the central plains so far, the UN disaster agency said.
Around 1.6 million people were at risk of massive flooding and might need relocation or rescue, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, as the swollen rivers entered the southern province of Sindh.
"We have already evacuated around 200,000 people ... and are ready to rescue more," Sindh's Chief Minister Murad Shah said.
Rescue workers and soldiers backed by boats and helicopters have already evacuated more than 2 million people in the central province of Punjab, including nearly 300,000 in the past two days, the regional disaster agency said.
Schools were closed and streets were deserted in the port city of Karachi on Wednesday after heavy rains overnight that flooded much of the metropolis.
The monsoon, a season of heavy rains in South Asian regions that runs from July to September, has been unpredictable and harsher in recent years due to climate change, killing thousands every year and affecting millions.
More than 2,000 people were killed in major floods that hit Pakistan in 2022, including subsequent diseases.
Thumbnail courtesy of PPI via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa via Reuters Connect.
Copy was provided by Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (dpa) through Reuters Connect.