More than one-fifth of Pakistan has been hit by devastating
floods. Human misery far out-weighs what the country suffered
following partition in 1947. The death count of 1,700 as of now
will go up through disease and deprivation. Pakistan, says, UN
Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, is facing a slow-motion tsunami.
Its destructive powers will accumulate and grow with time. It is
now almost a month since Pakistan has been facing strategic
challenges of gigantic proportions: 8 lakh isolated people,
mostly in the higher regions in the north, are reachable only by
air. Relief workers can't reach the spot since there are not
enough helicopters and the 18 deployed by the US fall far short
of the requirement. Hunger and deprivation are bound to destroy
many. The Indus fury has brought devastating destruction and
only extraordinary efforts by the international community will
help mitigate it. Lakhs of hectares of standing crops have been
ruined, triggering a severe food shortage that in turn, is bound
to drive food price