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In Brief
This Bulletin (no. 03/2005) is being issued for information only, and reflects the status of the situation and information available at this time. The Federation is not seeking funding or other assistance from donors for this operation at this time.
The Situation
All major rivers in the Northern Areas, North West Frontier Province (NWFP), Punjab and Sindh have been flooding for the past few weeks, affecting over 400,000 people.
In the Punjab province, three people are reported to have died during the floods, while over 400,000 people in 900 villages have been affected. More than 20,000 houses have been damaged. The flooding is extending in Sindh province. The water level at the Tarbela dam is likely to touch its maximum storage capacity of 1,550 feet within the next ten days.
In Sindh, the Indus River is flooding with medium water levels at Guddu and Sukkur. The total number of people affected is approaching 5,000 in 74 villages.
In Punjab Province, water levels in most rivers have fallen; however, the Indus River at Chasma and Taunsa has risen to medium flood-level.
In NWFP, the Kabul River at Nowshera is in high flood and the water level is rising. Nine people are reported dead, while 114 villages have been inundated, affecting around 6,500 people. Nearly 2,000 houses have been damaged. Crops have also been extensively affected.
In the Northern Areas, with flood waters receding, the situation is relatively under control.
According to the metrological department, more rains are expected during the next few days which may worsen the situation in already affected provinces. The situation may deteriorate further with the arrival of expected new monsoon rains in the last week of July.
Red Cross and Red Crescent action
The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is continuing to carry out relief operation in affected districts. A relief distribution was made on 8 July to 400 families in the Nowshera district in NWFP. The relief goods consisted of tents, water cans, mixed clothing, food parcels, and flour
The Pakistan Red Crescent chairman visited Nowshera and observed the distribution. He also visited a medical camp, handing over PKR 20,000 (CHF 433 or USD 336) collected by the students of two schools.
The PRCS Punjab branch is also continuing relief efforts and, in the past week, has distributed 400 parcels, 100 tents and other relief items among the Layyah flood victims. A PRCS medical team cont inues to treat patients at a Pakistan Red Crescent medical camp. To date, the team has attended to 60,000 patients in Punjab.
A Punjab branch team, headed by the branch secretary, is in the field assessing the situation and responding based on their findings. The team has visited Rajanpur and Narowal distric ts and distributed 1,100 food parcels, 50 tents and medicines. The team is now on its way to Sialkot equipped with food parcels and tents.
The national society has been responding to the flood situation for several weeks now and had earlier dispatched and distributed relief supplies in the NWFP and Northern Areas. Relief items have consisted of tents, blankets, food parcels, plastic sheets, water containers, mixed clothing and medicines.
The Pakistan Red Crescent national headquarters and provincial branches have depleted most of their relief stock and with the upcoming normal monsoon season, the stock needs to be replenished. It is highly likely that the flooding situation will worsen in Pakistan and the national society is considering launching an emergency appeal. Any such operation would involve emergency relief and rehabilitation/mitigation activities.
For further information specifically related to this operation please contact:
In Islamabad: Khalid Kibriya Pakistan Red Crescent Society Secretary General, phone: +92 51 9250405, fax: +92 51 925 0408
In Islamabad: Qasim Zahid, acting Head of Delegation , email: ifrcpk18@ifrc.org; phone: +92 51 9250416, mobile +92 333 910 2520, fax: +92 51 925 0418
In New Delhi: Alan Bradbury, acting Head of Regional Delegation, email: ifrcin134@ifrc.org; phone: + 91 11 2685 8671; fax: +91 11 2685 7567
In Geneva: Jagan Chapagain, Regional Officer Asia and Pacific Department, email: jagan.chapagain@ifrc.org; phone: +41 22 730 4316; fax: +41 22 733 0395 or Nelly Khrabraya; email: nelly.khrabraya@ifrc.org; phone: +41 22 730 4306
All International Federation assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of Conduct and is committed to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response (Sphere) in delivering assistance to the most vulnerable. For longer-term programmes in this or other countries or regions, please refer to the Federation's Annual Appeal. For support to or for further information concerning Federation programmes or operations in this or other countries, or for national society profiles, pleas e also access the Federation's website at http://www.ifrc.org