The recent flood in Sindh due to rains started in the last week of August, the severely hit districts Badin, MirpurKhas, Tando Muhammad Khan, Sanghar, UmerKot, Nawab Shah and Jamshoro in Lower Sindh, Southern and Northern Sindh. Rain multiplied with the poor system of Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) has created havocs in the life of poor communities living in these water locked areas. To date, the Government of Pakistan reports that more than 5.3 million people have been affected, 226 people have lost their lives and more than 400 people have been injured, with 1.1 million houses damaged or destroyed and over 4.2 million acres of land flooded with more than 1.59 million acres of crops destroyed.

Qatar Charity remained in coordination with UNOCHA, PDMA Sindh and different NGOs/INGOs present on the ground to assess the situation until the time government of Pakistan has requested international community to intervene and assist the government in helping the flood affected communities of Sindh. Rapid assessment of Badin and Tando Muhammad Khan is conducted on 14th and 15th of September. Qatar Charity has so far conducted the Rapid Assessment of two districts; Badin, and Tando Mohammad Khan while the access to Mirpur Khas was restricted due to security reasons. District Badin, and Tando Mohammad Khan (TMK) are two of the worst affected districts with an affected population of approximately 1.3 million in these two districts. There are 413,363 houses which are damaged with 42 deaths in these two districts.

Most of the communities living in these areas are dependent on agriculture but 367,710 acres of cultivated land is destroyed. All the cash crops like cotton, sugarcane, chili and tomato are perished, creating greater food security risk. More than 3000 cattle heads are perished in Badin and TMK until now and it is expected that this number can increase significantly due to non availability of fodder and increased diseases. Most of the people interviewed have told that almost 40 to 50% of their livestock has already died. There are also many poultry farms in the area which are a big source of livelihood for poor communities.

However most of these are inundated in water.
Most of the population is forced to live on the road sides due to the destruction caused by heavy rains and floods. The stagnant water is now becoming a great risk for the health of women, children and elderly people. Diseases like Diarrhea, Malaria, scabies, and cholera are becoming common. Skin diseases in children and women are also increasing. Although we did not find many confirmed cases of hepatitis but the general observation from water quality and the eye color of most of the people gives strong indication that there is high possibility of its presence.

Poor communities living in rural areas are generally used to go for open defecation in open fields as they do not have household toilets but due to flood water standing in the fields, the hygiene conditions are becoming miserable.

The water table in these two districts was already very high and is at between 15 to 25 feet depth due to which water quality is really questionable. Hand pumps are generally used to get the drinking water but most of these hand pumps are only 15 to 25 feet deep.