The devastating floods following unprecedented rains in Pakistan has been attributed to climate change. The deluge has left vast swathes of land inundated which has not only caused physical damage to the infrastructure, livestock, farms, crops, etc. but also resulted in a severe scarcity of food items prominently among them staple vegetables, the prices which have shot through the roof.
The worst part is, while the floods totally destroyed food crops in the fields, the wheat, rice and food cereals that were stored in the godowns too have been inundated. Encountered with the serious situation, the administration has failed to make available food in relief to a very large number of marooned people and those in relief camps. An NGO said that food relief to nearly 90 percent of people could not be reached and people suffering hunger for days together.
Latest reports suggest, in the past 24 hours, 75 people have died, most of them in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in floods and severe weather-related accidents. According to Pakistan's NDMA early estimate, more than 33 million people have been affected and more than 1 million houses damaged or destroyed. The death toll crossed 1,150 lives throughout the country.
The number of damaged and destroyed houses in Pakistan has tripled since the last Weekly Regional Humanitarian Snapshot, with around 950,000 houses impacted as of 27 August. At the provincial level, since last week the number of damaged/destroyed houses more than tripled in Sindh (to over 807,000 houses) and more than doubled in Balochistan (to nearly 61,500 houses) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (to over 33,200 houses). In Punjab, more than 46,300 houses have been damaged/destroyed, some 18,500 more than a week earlier.
The Prime Minister of India expressed grief over the devastation caused by the floods and conveyed sympathies over the loss of life, home and hearth. However, the gesture was not responded to by Pakistan in the same spirit. Pakistan prime minister while thanking Modi for the sympathies still hesitated in appreciating the friendly gesture.
As the condition continues to worsen, not only the Pakistan government but NGOs as well as several business chambers have directly or indirectly favoured resuming imports, especially of vegetables, edible oils etc. from India during their time of crisis.
In the recent past, Pakistan's Finance Minister Miftah Ismail stated that the Pakistan government could consider importing vegetables from India. Pakistan's one of the prominent NGO Edhi Foundation has also favoured importing food items from India before it is too late.
The president of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry Nauman Kabir appealed to the Pakistan government to resume imports from India. He said vegetables like cauliflower, tomatoes, potatoes etc could rot during transportation from Iran and Afghanistan whereas if imported from India these vegetables would not only arrive quickly in Pakistan but would also come out to be cheaper. Kabir said LCCI didn't favour the import of end goods from India but wanted the Pakistan government to allow raw materials from India. Meanwhile, in India, Anil Mehra, president of the Federation of Karyana and Dry Fruit Commercial Association said the resumption of trade with Pakistan would be beneficial for both nations.
