Floods Affect 4.2 Million In Pakistan's Punjab Province, Leaders Busy Politicising Relief Efforts

(MENAFN- IANS) Islamabad, Sep 27 (IANS) More than 4.2 million people have been affected by monsoon floods in Pakistan's Punjab province, with southern districts bearing the brunt, according to a rapid needs assessment released by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on Friday.

The survey, conducted jointly with the provincial government from September 8 to 18, covered nearly 2,000 villages in 18 flood-affected districts.

The assessment found that around 2.8 million people were displaced, about 161,700 houses were damaged, and health and education infrastructure also suffered extensive damage.

According to Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, around three million people were rescued or evacuated between June 26 and September 19 nationwide. Floods also damaged 12,559 houses and killed 6,509 livestock.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier announced a doubling of ex-gratia compensation for the families of those who lost their lives in the floods, raising the amount from one million rupees to two million rupees (about 7,000 US dollars), Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Pakistan People's Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Punjab province's Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz have been severely criticised for politicising flood relief in the face of one of the country's most devastating seasons instead of presenting a united front to aid millions of affected citizens.

According to Pakistan's leading Express Tribune, the core of this political conflict is not about the most effective mechanism for aid, but rather about claiming credit and asserting dominance.

"Bilawal has dogmatically insisted that the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) is the 'sole method' for providing immediate relief, framing any rejection of it as an 'irresponsible attitude' towards flood victims. But Maryam fairly questioned how a significantly large amount would be distributed through BISP when standard payments through the system are only about Rs 10,000 - the Punjab CM wants to distribute 100 times that amount to flood victims," the newspaper highlighted in an editorial on Saturday.

"On the other side, the CM's response has been equally partisan. Even if we take her at her word that BISP is a "very simplistic solution", several statements in her recent presser appeared to be sharp, unconstructive rebukes designed as sound bites for the evening news. In times like these, a good leader must put aside personal pride and do what is best for the country. Starving and sickly people at relief camps don't care if Maryam is holding her head high or begging for foreign aid. They just want some food, shelter and medicine," the Express Tribune editorial added.

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