Past experience proves that during any natural calamity like earthquake or flood, besides people who serve the needy through humanitarian services by providing generous aid, Pakistan’s armed forces cope with the drastic situation boldly.
The unprecedented deadly floods and extraordinary monsoon rains which began in June this year have destroyed lives, livelihoods and infrastructure in various regions of Pakistan, leaving one-third of the country underwater.
During his repeated trips to the flood-affected areas of Sindh on September 10, talking to the media, COAS General Bajwa urged the people of the country to help the flood victims generously and stated that the world will help to some extent
Latest figures of the National Flood Response Coordination Committee (NFRCC) released on October 13, show that over 176,153 acres of crops were destroyed, over 2 16,974 cattle died, over 466,366 homes affected, over 160,460 homes were partially affected while 117,356 were completely demolished amid the flooding across the country.
Earlier, media reported that owing to the floods, more than 2000 persons have died; more than 30 million people have been affected, 2 million acres of crops destroyed, 5,563 km of roads and 243 bridges have been damaged. Half a million people were in displacement camps and many others were without shelter.
Officials say this year’s floods are comparable to 2010—when over 2,000 people died and nearly a fifth of the country was under water.
Foreign media called Pakistan’s flood as a result of climate change with a serious climate catastrophe.
The rain spell and floods have negative effects on the people in the flood-ravaged areas also from the pandemic diseases— as a number of persons have died.
Taking cognisance of the large-scale devastation, the Pakistan Government has declared a state of emergency. The government has established a flood relief fund, namely, the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund, 2022 for providing relief and rehabilitation to the flood-affected persons. The Fund accepts donations and contributions both from domestic and international sources.
Meanwhile, in a live telethon on 29 August 2022, Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister Imran Khan raised funds for victims of devastating rains and floods, and received commitments of over Rs. 5.5 billion, donated by overseas and domestic Pakistanis. In a second telethon held on September 11, Khan collected approximately Rs 5 billion for the flood-victims. In a third telethon on September 18, he collected more than Rs 3 billion.
The entire Pakistani nation, civil society and humanitarian organisations (NGOs) have also stepped forward to assist in the rescue and relief efforts which continue in the flood-ravaged regions, while the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is also playing its role in this regard.
In fact, whenever Pakistan faces a major challenge, people look at armed, naval and air forces for support. This is quite true in case of the current flood circumstances, which have wreaked havoc in almost all provinces of the country. The Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force are all actively participating in flood rescue and relief operations.
These forces have established relief funds for the victims of the flooding areas. In this spirit, all the general officers of the Army have also donated one month’s salary to help the victims. Apart from this, other officers are also giving financial donations on a voluntary basis. Even,the Pakistan Air Force Women’s Association (PAFWA) has collected cash donations amounting to more than Rs 14 million.
And besides monetary assistance, all three branches of the country’s defence are distributing rations on-ground. The Army has established more than 200 relief collection points across the country and the Air Force has also set up camps. Donations by various segments of society are being dispatched to these flood relief camps.
Nevertheless, these three forces pounded and distributed packages— basic needs of life such as ration, cooked food packs, fresh drinking water, blankets, clothing items, tents etc. These armed forces have also set up medical camps which are providing medical treatment and medicine to the flood-affected patients.
Particularly, the Pakistan Army is engaged in a massive rescue and relief operation in the regions affected by torrential rains and flash floods. The Army has established a Relief and Rescue Organisation under Headquarters Army Air Defence Command to manage these operations. Army’s teams rescued a number of people stranded in the flood-hit areas, including women and children along with their belongings, and shifted them to safer places. An example of the relentless bravery shown by the Army is that of Corps Commander 12 Corps Lt Gen Sarfaraz Ali, Commsnder Pakistan Coast Guard Brig (approved Maj Gen) Amjad Hanif.Commander Engineers 12 Corps Brig Muhammad Khalid, Major Saeed Ahmed, Major Muhammad Talha Manan and Naik Mudassir Fayyaz who embraced martyrdom after their helicopter crashed during en route from Quetta to Karachi in relation to a rescue operation.While the fleet of helicopters of Army Aviation, the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Air Force were deployed in flood-stricken areas, their emergency response teams are also assisting the civil administration in rescue and relief efforts of South Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh. Thus, these forces have also saved the life of thousands of individuals.
Notably, Director General (DG) of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar on September 1 stated that the nation was generously contributing to the relief efforts of the Army to support the people affected by the floods. He elaborated: “Since the beginning of the crisis caused by the recent monsoon rains, the armed forces have been working day and night in the affected areas for the last two months”.
He added: “Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa had made detailed visits to the flood-affected areas of Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab and reviewed the ongoing relief operations on ground.”
Taking note of the drastic effects of the deadly floods and extraordinary monsoon rains, UN agencies and many individual countries, including China, Japan and Islamic countries like Turkey, have sent several planes loaded with aid, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been one of the most generous contributors, and sent so far more than 45 flights carrying aid for flood victims. Numerous rich countries as well as the European Union (EU) have also announced financial support. For example, the EU provided €350,000, and the US provided $56.5 million in humanitarian aid to respond to the floods, and announced $ 10 million additional aid.
But, this financial assistance is not enough, as Islamabad requires $30 billion to respond to the massive losses because of extraordinary floods and rains.
In this regard, during a two-day visit to Pakistan, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres appealed to the international community on September 9 for massive financial support— flood-hit impoverished Pakistan needs about $30 billion to recover from the floods, which he, himself assessed by surveying these areas through helicopter.
It is noteworthy that during his repeated trips to the flood-affected areas of Sindh on September 10, talking to the media, COAS General Bajwa urged the people of the country to help the flood victims generously and stated that the world will help to some extent.
And in a statement, the ISPR said that General Bajwa on September 13 visited flood affected areas in interior Sindh and met troops busy in flood relief efforts providing medical and administrative care to affected people in Noshero Feroz. General Bajwa also interacted with the locals and assured them that the Pakistan Army would continue to serve people to mitigate their suffering till they are rehabilitated. Later, the Army Chief was flown for aerial reconnaissance of flood-hit areas of Sindh.”
Nonetheless, coping with the current sea-like flood waters, Pakistan’s armed forces’ flood relief operations continue.
