Flash floods triggered by cloudburst have inundated several parts of Pakistan ranging from the Chitral valley in the country’s north to parts of southern Punjab and the mountainous areas of Balochistan. Chitral was the worst-affected area as rain-triggered floods wreak havoc on the area, washing away the the main bridge linking Chitral to Mastuj sub-division and severing road links from Chitral city to at least 10 union councils.A rescue operation has been initiated to aid the affected population and an emergency imposed in Chitral as rains continued to pour down with short intervals. On the other hand as the prospect of monsoon showers draws closer, the resource crunch at the National Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Network (NHEPRN) is becoming increasingly evident. The emergency response body is currently at the mercy of national and international donor agencies and pharmaceutical companies to meet the country’s needs.There is an urgent need for the allocation of an emergency budget for all the provinces as well as for all districts to cope with any kind of monsoon rain-related calamity. While some parts of the country have already started to experience monsoon rains, the provincial governments of Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are still faced with financial constraints to address gaps and have pointed the problems out in the Monsoon Contingency Health Plan 2015. Last year’s catastrophic floods covered almost a quarter of the country, killing some 2,000 people and affecting upward of 20 million. This year, rainfall is expected to be about 10 percent lower than in 2010, and authorities say 2- to 6 million people could be adversely affected. Now it is to observe whether Government succeeds in its congigency plan or the pland just exists on the paper?
pk.shafaqna.com
