Poor Pakistanis 'start from zero' after floods leave them homeless and jobless


  • English
  • Arabic

When the swollen Swat River changed course in late August and roared into Naeem Ullah's village in north-western Pakistan, it swept away his home and all 13 of his relatives' houses.

His sugar cane crop, planted on five hectares of leased land, also was destroyed, leaving him jobless, homeless and with few prospects of repaying the money he borrowed to buy seed and fertiliser.

"I have to start my life from zero," Mr Ullah, 40, said from his village of Dagi Mukarram Khan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

"I have lost everything. I can only pray to Allah to give me the strength to face this biggest challenge of my life."

Floodwaters driven by months of relentless rain — and a heatwave in the spring that accelerated the melting of glaciers — have covered a third of Pakistan, affecting 33 million people.

More than 1,300 people have died in the floods, Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said.

The cost of the damage is estimated at $10 billion, with 1.6 million homes lost or damaged, 5,000 kilometres of roads destroyed and more than 700,000 livestock gone.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is scheduled to travel to hard-hit areas of the country this week to see the devastation caused by what he called "a monsoon on steroids".

Across Pakistan, millions of families have lost their homes and belongings, crops, animals and even relatives, with many struggling to find dry areas of land to erect tarpaulin shelters and keep themselves and their remaining livestock safe.

Roads and bridges have been washed away, hampering aid efforts and forcing the authorities in some areas to deliver limited help mainly by helicopter.

In the Awaran district of south-west Balochistan province, floods still stretch towards the horizon, having destroyed many of the mud homes in the impoverished region.

A house belonging to Dilshad Baluch's family was washed away and a neighbour was killed when his home collapsed as floods swamped their village in July.

Downed power cables brought a risk of electrocution in the standing water, he said.

With bridges to Karachi impassable, the area's major supply route remains cut off.

Helicopters have dropped parcels of rice and beans but "it's far too little" and villagers cannot cook it without kitchens or dry firewood, Mr Baluch said.

"We are living on open ground," said the 21-year-old university student, who returned home for the summer from his studies in Islamabad.

Many people are angry, he said. "But most of them are just feeling helpless. There is no one to take care of them and no one cares about them."

Debt problems

With Pakistan saddled by debt and international humanitarian agencies overwhelmed by global demand for assistance, families in the country may have to fund much of the recovery effort themselves.

Families are eligible to receive a maximum of 50,000 rupees ($226) for damaged crops, said Taimur Ali, media co-ordinator for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Disaster Management Authority.

That could potentially be raised after a fuller assessment of the damage, he said.

The provincial government also has announced it will provide up to $1,370 in compensation for each damaged home. It has distributed 1.75 billion rupees for rescue and relief efforts since the start of July, he said.

The International Monetary Fund last week agreed to release $1.1bn in funding for Pakistan, with politicians saying the money would help to keep the economy afloat.

But many farmers doubt the support will be enough. Some say their fields have been devastated and that the land will need to be restored before planting again.

Flooding in Sukkur, Sindh province. Monsoon rains have washed away crops and damaged or destroyed more than a million homes in Pakistan. AFP
Flooding in Sukkur, Sindh province. Monsoon rains have washed away crops and damaged or destroyed more than a million homes in Pakistan. AFP

Sher Alam, 47, who lives in Mera Khel Sholgara village on the outskirts of Charsadda City, lost his sugar cane crop after flooding on August 26.

He has already borrowed $450 to repay the lender who provided the seeds and fertiliser for this year's crop and is now seeking another $230 loan to pay for help to restore his farmland — something he will have to do in his spare time.

Mr Alam, who has five children, said he found a job at a private car park in Charsadda to make ends meet.

With his crop now good only for animal feed rather than the lucrative sugar he expected, he said he did not know how he would be able to survive.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said that more than 800,000 hectares of crops have been spoiled by flooding in Pakistan, which has led to fears over food security.

Not getting paid

Mr Baluch said the crop and livestock losses were a huge worry for the country.

"This is not only putting in danger people's lives, it is putting in danger even their future," he said.

As the price of remaining supplies of fruit, vegetables and meat soar, the poorest are struggling, he said.

"There are some people who have savings but most of the population, particularly in Balochistan ... survive on daily work. But the work is affected by the floods, so they are not getting paid. They are suffering drastically," he said.

Floods have also contaminated most of the wells that communities in his area rely on, he said.

"People will be suffering and too many people are going to die," he said.

The floods have destroyed houses across Pakistan. EPA
The floods have destroyed houses across Pakistan. EPA

Many of those affected by flooding said they had not been given adequate warning, or that repeated alerts over months of rain diminished their will to act.

Mr Alam said his village did not receive a formal government notice about the late August flooding, but nearby villages passed on a warning.

That, combined with social media alerts, gave his community about three hours to move some of their livestock and goods to safety, he said.

Mr Ali said flood monitors were installed on five rivers and at two other locations in the province, which helped to provide an early warning of flooding.

About 80,000 people were relocated from the Charsadda region, he said.

Losses from this year's floods are expected to be lower in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa than during the devastating 2010 floods, in part because of the lessons learnt from that disaster, he said.

"We prepare winter and monsoon contingency plans every year and allocate funds to every district to cope with any disaster," he said.

Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227 for four at the close.

ODI FIXTURE SCHEDULE

First ODI, October 22
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Second ODI, October 25
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

Third ODI, October 29
Venue TBC

Pakistan T20 series squad

Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shahzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Amir Yamin, Mohammed Amir (subject to fitness clearance), Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Umar Amin

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FIXTURES

All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Friday
Sevilla v Levante (midnight)

Saturday
Athletic Bilbao v Real Sociedad (7.15pm)
Eibar v Valencia (9.30pm)
Atletico Madrid v Alaves (11.45pm)

Sunday
Girona v Getafe (3pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7.15pm)
Las Palmas v Espanyol (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Deportivo la Coruna (11.45pm)

Monday
Malaga v Real Betis (midnight)

How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
LIKELY TEAMS

South Africa
Faf du Plessis (captain), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungi Ngidi.

India (from)
Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail

The Light of the Moon

Director: Jessica M Thompson

Starring: Stephanie Beatriz, Michael Stahl-David

Three stars

RESULTS - ELITE MEN

1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40    
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45   
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57           
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58            
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59       

Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company

2019 ASIA CUP POTS

Pot 1
UAE, Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia

Pot 2
China, Syria, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Qatar, Thailand

Pot 3
Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, India, Vietnam

Pot 4
North Korea, Philippines, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, Turkmenistan

Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Adele: The Stories Behind The Songs
Caroline Sullivan
Carlton Books

The biog

DOB: 25/12/92
Marital status: Single
Education: Post-graduate diploma in UAE Diplomacy and External Affairs at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi
Hobbies: I love fencing, I used to fence at the MK Fencing Academy but I want to start again. I also love reading and writing
Lifelong goal: My dream is to be a state minister

Our legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Women & Power: A Manifesto

Mary Beard

Profile Books and London Review of Books 

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

RESULT

Uruguay 3 Russia 0
Uruguay:
 Suárez (10'), Cheryshev (23' og), Cavani (90')
Russia: Smolnikov (Red card: 36')

Man of the match: Diego Godin (Uruguay)

The specs: 2018 BMW X2 and X3

Price, as tested: Dh255,150 (X2); Dh383,250 (X3)

Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged inline four-cylinder (X2); 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline six-cylinder (X3)

Power 192hp @ 5,000rpm (X2); 355hp @ 5,500rpm (X3)

Torque: 280Nm @ 1,350rpm (X2); 500Nm @ 1,520rpm (X3)

Transmission: Seven-speed automatic (X2); Eight-speed automatic (X3)

Fuel consumption, combined: 5.7L / 100km (X2); 8.3L / 100km (X3)

The Vines - In Miracle Land
Two stars

Updated: September 06, 2022, 8:30 AM