Over the last few weeks, many districts of Sindh and Balochistan have been battling
unprecedented floods and rains, the worst in a century. The death toll has reached over
900, property destruction, loss of goods and commodities and thousands of people have
been displaced from their homes. The situation is still critical and thousands of persons
are stranded in various areas of who desperately needed help. The real concern is that the
disaster is spreading to other parts of the country. Swat and its adjoining areas in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa offers a lot of attractions to tourists from all over Pakistan. However,
devastating floods are playing havoc with the infrastructure of this beautiful city and
tourists are also facing difficulties. Many tourist facilities and hotels have been swept
away by the raging Swat river. There are stories of untold miseries. The government has
yet to assess the full scale of the damage wrought by the Monsoon rains. In this critical
situation, the government agencies need to expedite relief activities as the task is a huge
one that requires more robust efforts on the part of the concerned authorities.
Relief agencies are battling to reach victims as the water level in many areas is still high
and is obstructing relief operations. Moreover, medical facilities are few and far between
in some of the most severely affected areas. Survivors are facing tough conditions in the
flood-hit regions. Desperate victims are still waiting for help. The magnitude of the
devastation in far-off areas is colossal and thousands of people are still spending the night
under the open sky.
In order to rescue victims, both the federal and provincial governments need to work
jointly. They should utilise all resources for relief work. Amid this catastrophic situation,
it is the responsibility of the central government to reach the victims and provide them
with the necessary help. The government needs to understand that the affected citizens are
desperately waiting for relief items and it should also welcome international aid.
It is a fact that floods and rains have played havoc across the country and it is one of the
worst disasters. Dropping aid and evacuating the injured by air seems the only way to
reach many of the needy. Overall, there is a need to expedite the rescue operation.
Rescuers and the military need to race against time to reach victims stranded in flooded
areas before the circumstance claim more lives.
