Floods killed 422 people, destroyed 275000 houses: NDMA - DAWN.com

The photo shows children affected by the 2012 floods in Pakistan. – File Photo

ISLAMABAD: A total of 275,000 houses and shops were destroyed and at least 422 people killed in the recent floods in various parts of the country, said National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman Zafar Iqbal Qadir.

Speaking to a private news channel, he said that out of a total of 275,000 houses and shops destroyed, 235,831 were in Sindh, 25,442 in Punjab, 8,626 in Balochistan, 4,392 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,243 in Azad Kashmir and 70 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

A total of 155,662 houses and shops were partially damaged in the flood-hit areas of the country, including 132,282 in Sindh, 16,440 in Punjab, 4,289 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,564 in Balochistan, 1,017 in AJK and 70 in Gilgit-Baltistan, he added.

To a question regarding details of the relief operation, the NDMA said a total of 32,570 ration bags, 15,000 tents and 29 de-watering pumps were distributed in the affected areas.

He said that more than 4,474,341 persons were affected by the current year's floods. The number of villages badly affected by the floods is stated to be 13,465.

He claimed that because of the lessons learnt from disasters of the past two years, situation relating to epidemics and child mortality was under control.

"Everything is in place, including vaccines to fight malaria and even against snake-bites. There were several deaths from snake-bites after the last floods," he added.

Qadir said that in Wazirabad over 400 snake-bite victims' lives had been saved.

He said that a majority of deaths took place in Sindh where 239 people died and 2,300 people were injured. In Punjab, 60 people were killed and 272 were injured. In Balochistan, 51 people were killed and 115 injured.

According to figures updated on Sept 28, about 4.7 million people had been affected so far — 3.12 million in Sindh alone, 887,345 in Punjab and 704,822 in Balochistan, he added.