heros
Government Administration
Minister of Defence of Thrace
Posts: 201
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Post by heros on Aug 20, 2010 11:39:19 GMT 2
Here the heartbreaking report from our Ambassador, Mr. Syed Hamid Ali, about the disastrous situation in Pakistan ! Let everybody pray for those suffering people !
Flood In Pakistan 2010 The number of people rendered homeless by the devastating floods in Pakistan has risen to more than 4 million, the United Nations said on Thursday, making the critical task of securing greater amounts of aid more urgent. The U.N. had earlier said that 2 million people had lost their homes in the worst floods in Pakistan's history, which began nearly three weeks. Aid agencies have been pushing for more funding as they try to tackle major problems such as food supplies, lack of shelter outbreaks of diseases. The economic costs of the floods are expected to run into the billions of dollars, stepping up pressure on Pakistan's government just after it had made progress in stabilizing the country through security offensives against Taliban insurgents. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it expected to contribute at least $2 billion to help."While the assessment will take several weeks to complete, the damages so far are staggering," said the Manila-based ADB in a statement on its website. Aid funding has improved, with nearly half the $459 million needed to fund initial relief efforts secured after days of lobbying donors. But the situation on the ground remained grim."The donors are improving their contribution. They are giving more and more. The response of donors to this crisis is getting better and better but it is still inadequate," U.N. spokesman Maurizio Giuliano told Reuters Child trafficking is a big business in Pakistan. Giuliano expressed concern that since the floods have made millions homeless, children were at an even great risk of being forced into the trade."You may have families who take drastic measures because they need to survive. So even though we don't have any suggestion that it is happening already, this can be a concern," he said. Only a small minority of the 6 million Pakistanis desperate for food and clean water have received help after floods that have killed up to 1,600 people."According to rough estimates, over 4 million people in Sindh and Punjab still do not have a roof on their head," said Giuliano, referring to southern and central provinces worst hit by the flood. "This situation is of high concern."Flood victims are turning on each other as aid is handed out and anger is rising over the government's perceived sluggish response to the crisis. While the military has raised its profile by leading rescue and relief efforts, as the government has faced a hail of criticism over its perceived failure to ease the crisis. Still, analysts don't expect the military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history, to try and stage a coup. Hundreds of villages are isolated, highways and bridges have been cut in half by floods and hundreds of thousands of cattle -- the livelihoods of many villagers -- have drowned. Many hospitals and medical camps are overwhelmed and fears are rising for possible epidemics of diseases and viruses such as malaria.
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Post by H.E. José Cáceres Farfán. C.I. on Aug 20, 2010 15:25:26 GMT 2
My prayers for the nation of Pakistan
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von Ghalen
Junior Citizen
Secretary to the Imperial Crown
1st Marquis of Thrace
Posts: 64
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Post by von Ghalen on Aug 23, 2010 4:46:41 GMT 2
Our petitions offered to the virgin Mary on this her fest day of the consecration of her heart, and her most beautiful title, the 'Stella Maris' star of the sea. Sanctae Maria ora pro nobis.
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Grand Duchess Diana
Government Administration
Grand Steward of the Empire
Foreign and Immigration Minister, KEEPER OF THE THRONE
Posts: 358
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Post by Grand Duchess Diana on Aug 23, 2010 23:10:11 GMT 2
I think His Majesty's Ambassador must to report here!
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Post by Krychek, M.P. on Aug 24, 2010 1:33:38 GMT 2
Why does the Ambassador not post and report himself? And since when does he answer to the Defense Minister?
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heros
Government Administration
Minister of Defence of Thrace
Posts: 201
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Post by heros on Aug 24, 2010 12:15:47 GMT 2
I asked him several times to make it directly. He is not reporting to me, but I need the status of the security there, that is why I asked him. Probably he has problem to enter or else. Here the update : CURRENT UPDATES ON FLOOD 2010
The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 after heavy monsoon rains affected the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, lower Punjab as well as parts of Balochistan. It is estimated that two thousand people along with close to a million homes have perished so far. The United Nations estimates over 20 million people are suffering and homeless with over 160,000 square kilometers affected as a result of the flooding, exceeding the combined total of the affected of 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. However, the death toll in each of those three disasters was much higher than the number of people killed so far in the floods[5]. Around a fifth of Pakistan's total land area was underwater due to the flooding.
UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon has asked for an initial $460 million for emergency relief, noting that the flood was the worst disaster he had ever seen. 50% of the relief funds requested has been received as of 15 August 2010.[10] The U.N. is concerned that aid is not arriving fast enough, while the World Health Organization reported that ten million people were forced to drink unsafe water. The Pakistani economy has been harmed by extensive damage to infrastructure and crops. Structural damages are estimated to exceed 4 billion USD, and wheat crop damages are estimated to be over 500 million USD.[1]. Total economic impacts are estimated at about 43 billion USD according to official estimates. The floods were caused by monsoon rains, which were forecast to continue into early August and were described as the worst in this area in the last 80 years. The Pakistan Meteorological Department said that over 200 mm (7.88 inches) of rain fell over a 24-hour period over a number of places of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab and more was expected. A record breaking 274 mm (10.7 inches) rain fell in Peshawar during 24 hours, previously 187 mm (7.36 inches) of rain was recorded in April,2009.[18] So far as many as 500,000 or more people have been displaced from their homes. On 30 July, Manuel Bessler, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, stated that 36 districts were involved, and 950,000 people were affected, although within a day, reports increased the number to as high as a million, and by mid-August to nearly 20 million affected. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial information-minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said "the infrastructure of this province was already destroyed by terrorism. Whatever was left was finished off by these floods." He also called the floods "the worst calamity in our history." Four million Pakistanis were left with food shortages.
Officials have warned that the death-toll could rise as many towns and villages are not accessible and communications have been disrupted. In some areas, the water-level was 5.5 m (18 ft) high and residents were seen on roof-tops waiting for aid to arrive. At least 1,588 people have been injured, 722,600 houses and 4,600 villages have been damaged or destroyed. The Karakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan with China, was closed after a bridge was destroyed. The ongoing devastating floods in Pakistan will have a severe impact on an already vulnerable population, says the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In addition to all the other damages the floods have caused, floodwaters have destroyed much of the healthcare-infrastructure in the worst-affected areas, leaving inhabitants especially vulnerable to water-borne disease. In Sindh, the Indus River burst its banks near Sukkur on 8 August, submerging the village of Mor Khan Jatoi. There is also an absence of law and order, mainly in Sindh. Looters have been taking advantage of the floods by ransacking abandoned homes using boats.
In early August, the heaviest flooding moved southward along the Indus River from severely-affected northern regions toward western Punjab, where at least 1,400,000 acres (570,000 ha) of cropland was destroyed, and the southern province of Sindh. The crops affected were cotton, sugarcane, rice, pulses, tobacco and animal fodder. Floodwaters and rain destroyed 700,000 acres (3,000 km2) of cotton, 200,000 acres (800 km2) acres each of rice and cane, 500,000 tonnes of wheat and 300,000 acres (1,000 km2) of animal fodder. According to the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, the floods destroyed 2 million bales of cotton, which led to an increase in futures of the commodity in international market.
The power infrastructure of Pakistan also took a severe blow from the floods, which damaged 10,000 transmission lines, transformers, feeders and power houses in different flood hit areas. Flood water inundated Jinnah Hydro power and 150 power houses in Gilgit. The damage caused a power shortfall of 3,135 MW.
It has also been reported by International Red Cross that a large number of unexploded ordinance such as mines and artillery shells have been flushed down stream by the floods from areas in Kashmir and Waziristan and scattered in low lying areas, posing a future risk to returning inhabitants.
Aid agencies have warned that outbreaks of diseases, such as: gastroenteritis, diarrhea, and skin diseases due to lack of clean drinking water and sanitation can pose a serious new risk to victims of flood.[36][37] On 14 August, the first case of cholera emerged in the town of Mingora, as fear ran through millions of stranded victims of flood, who are already suffering from gastroenteritis and diarrhea.
On the direction of President Asif Ali Zardari, there were no official celebrations of 63rd Independence Day on 14 August as the country faces calamity.
Pakistani authorities have predicted that fresh rainfall is expected to trigger further two waves of flooding, inundating more land and swallowing yet more villages. One of this new flood surge is currently sweeping down from mountainous areas in the north and expected to hit highly populated areas in the coming days, while the second wave is being formed in the mountains.
An article in the New Scientist[ attributed the cause of the exceptional rainfall to "freezing" of the jet stream, a phenomenon that simultaneously also caused an unprecedented heat wave and wildfires in Russia as well as the 2007 United Kingdom floods in the past
Floods have submerged 17 million acres of Pakistan's most fertile crop land, have killed 200,000 livestock and have washed away massive amounts of grain. A major concern is that farmers will be unable to meet the fall deadline for planting new seeds in 2010, meaning a massive loss of food production in 2011, and potentially leading to long term food shortages. The agricultural damages are more than 2.9 billion dollars, according to recent estimates, and include over 700,000 acres of lost cotton crops, 200,000 acres of sugar cane and 200,000 acres of rice, in addition to the loss of over 500,000 tonnes of stocked wheat, 300,000 acres of animal fodder and the stored grain losses.
Agricultural crops like cotton, rice,sugarcane were badly affected in Punjab and to some extent mangoes as per the spokesman of Harvest Tradings-Pakistan. The international community should fully participate in the rehabilitation process as well as for the revival of agricultural crops in order to get better GDP growth in the future. The District Manager of Harvest Tradings Mr.Farooq Azam has visited the affected areas of South Punjab. According to him, some mango growers of Multan Division have raised their prices up to Rs 130/kg for profit taking in this disaster which is very surprising. He further said that Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited must write off all the agriculture loans of the affected areas in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pukhtunkhwa especially for small farmers
[edit] Infrastructure Floods have damaged an estimated 2,433 miles of highway and 3,508 miles of railway. Cost estimations for highway damages are at approximately 158 million USD and railway damages are at 131 million USD. Any unique or particularly large infrastructure damages will increase these estimates. Public building damages are estimated at 1 billion USD.
[edit] Taliban insurgency The flood will divert Pakistani military forces from fighting the Pakistani Taliban insurgents (TTP) in the Northwest to help in the relief effort. It is feared that this will allow Taliban fighters to regroup. On the other hand, it has been suggested that by helping flood victims the US has an opportunity to improve its image.
The Pakistani Taliban have also engaged in relief efforts and make inroads where the government is absent or seen as corrupt. As the flood may have dislodged many property markers, it is feared that governmental delay and corruption will give an advantage to the Taliban to settle these disputes swiftly. A Taliban spokesperson asked the Pakistani government to reject Western help from "Christians and Jews" indicating that, instead, the Taliban can raise $20 million
From Syed Hamid Ali
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